


Immortal Devotion

by Rohad, Tripower



Category: The Owl House (Cartoon)
Genre: AU, Action & Romance, Alternate Universe - Norse Religion & Lore, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Blood, Death, F/F, Gay, Hurt/Comfort, Love, Lumity, Mortal/God, Mythology - Freeform, Vikings, Violence, boschlow, warriors - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-27
Updated: 2021-01-17
Packaged: 2021-03-09 18:34:04
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 30
Words: 189,855
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27730840
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rohad/pseuds/Rohad, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tripower/pseuds/Tripower
Summary: The god of light, joy, and the summer sun, is an unusual choice for a warrior to pick for their patron god, and it isn't just other mortals who are curious about her reasoning.~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~A collaborative effort Writing project by Tripower & RohadChapter Illustrations by Tripower
Relationships: Amity Blight/Luz Noceda, Boscha & Willow Park
Comments: 894
Kudos: 1710
Collections: Erica's Favorite Lumity





	1. Chapter 1

It was a beautiful day.

The sky was clear, allowing crystal blue to stretch for as far as the eye could see in every direction, and even though the air was bitterly cold with the bite of high winter, the sun still provided some warmth, though not nearly enough too so much as touch the thick blanket of snow on the ground that covered everything in a bright, crunchy layer of white. Even so, the sun shined and birds chirped somewhere in the distance, quiet background noise to the day.

So, all things considered, it was a beautiful day.

Unless you were a member of the raiding band of warriors being routed to the last man by the defending warriors of the village of Boneshaven and their young Jarl.

Bodies littered the ground as numerous as snowflakes, while splatters of red painted the snow, bright and eye-catching amid the field of alabaster. The crashing and banging of pitched battle are deafening as metal and wood strike against each other and men scream or groan in a symphony of death.

This raiding party had chosen the wrong village to ransack, a mistake they would not live to repeat.

In just an hour the warriors of Boneshaven had whittled down a force that outnumbered them nearly two to one, but now as the battle reached its end, quality over quantity is the victor of the day. 

With another mighty swing, her ax cleaved straight through a round shield as though it were made of parchment, splintering it into a thousand little pieces and several shards of metal as it carried on to hewn her opponents head clean from his body in a single cut and blood sprayed across the snow and splattering her boots.

Amity panted, breath coming out in a thick, smokey cloud as she hefted the double-sided ax back to her side as the slain warrior's body slumped to the ground in the snow. She glanced around and as far as she could see, only those bearing shields with the crest of Boneshaven painted across their faces were still standing in the field. A hush fell over the battlefield, the long silence that heralded the end of the fighting, and somewhere from among the scattered warriors a cry of victory rang out, and other voices were quick to join it. Wordless cries of triumph before somewhere, another voice rang out.

“For the glory of Baldur!” A cry that was quickly echoed across the entire battlefield and Amity smiled to herself as she caught her breath, cold air stinging her lungs, and was quickly caught up in their revelry, thrusting her ax overhead, joining in the chorus of voices dedicating their victory over their foes to the Aesir god of joy, light and the summer sun.

The attacking warriors lay dead, and this little village on the southern coast of the Boiling Isles and all it had to offer, was now beholden to the twenty summers old, jarl of Boneshaven, to Amity and her warriors, for the part they played in protecting it from being robbed blind and burned to the ground.

The people of the village offer whatever they can spare to their saviors, they have little money but offer up cattle, and warm winter clothes among other things, though Amity draws the line before they can overextend themselves in their gratitude, Winter still has time yet before spring comes calling. She wants something else from the first and foremost, and if it’s all they can do she would still be pleased, she wants an altar, built to honor her and her own village's patron god, Baldur.

They agreed without hesitation and when the Boneshaven band sets off across the snowy fields, they leave behind a battlefield of fallen being picked at by crows already and a shrine to the god of light. 

Amity is quite pleased with herself when she and her warriors return to the large village of Boneshaven with several new heads of cattle, woven wool cloth, and another village paying homage to the god of light. She hummed to herself thoughtfully, counting in her head. That made about fifteen villages scattered all across the southern portion of the Boiling Isles that before, had paid tribute only to all the usual protective gods, Thor, Tyr, and Odin, that now had shrines to the god of light, all in the last two years since she had become the head of the village.

“Well, don’t you seem pleased!” She looked up at the voice only to find her brother and sister standing outside on either side of the door to her longhouse, arms crossed and grinning, bundled in their fur-lined cloaks. 

“Wouldn’t you be pleased if you came back from battle alive?” Emira turned to her brother with a cocked brow.

“You got me there,” he agreed with a nod and chuckle. “So, I take it you won?” he asked as they followed her inside.

“If we didn’t would I be here?” she smirked at them over her shoulder as she laid the double-sided ax against the wall and unpinned the dark gray, furred cloak from around her shoulders, leaving her in the single pauldron strapped to her left shoulder across her chest and her long magenta tunic, chorded leather belt tied in a knot at her waist holding a dagger and several little pouches. She fiddled with the metal, furlined bracers on her arms as her sibling made themselves comfortable, holding up her walls. 

“Good point,” Edirc said with a shrug as he leaned against the wall. “I take it you had them build a shrine to Baldur…,” Edric trailed off as he eyed the cloak laying across Amity’s bed, the gold plated pin engraved with the sigil for light shone back at him. 

“You know I did…,” Amity said as she ran her hands through her hair tiredly, held back from her face on top in a warrior's wolf tail and the sides hanging loose, though some strands were tied up in a braid that hung down her neck on the right side behind her ear. Nearly all of it stained a pale green, done with a paste made from certain plants to cover the auburn locks beneath, though her true color has begun to shine through at the peak. She would need to fix it before long, but collecting those plants was always such a hassle. She snorted to herself, something she could do first thing in the morning. She moved to the basin of water by her head and started washing off the face paint around her eyes, turning the water red, she can smell the metallic tang of dried blood mixing with the crimson paste used to paint her face as it drips off her chin. 

“We’re just curious…,” he starts.

“If you’re ever going to explain why you became an adherent of the god of light after you left home,” Emira finished for him.

They are dying of curiosity. Amity left their parents home at about eighteen, never particularly keen about any of the gods per se, but almost two years later when they met her again by happenstance, she was a devoted adherent to Baldur. She never gave an explanation for it, even though the two had asked her several times now. She always side-stepped the question. 

“First, that place was never my home,” Amity bit out, and the twins don’t argue, for Amity, the place they had been raised was more akin to a prison than anything. “Second… maybe someday, but not now.” she looked at them and they shared a silent look before they nodded; they couldn’t do much else.

“Alright, keep your secrets, Jarl,” Edric teased, putting extra stress on her title as they moved to the door. “We only came to tell you that Willow wanted to talk to you as soon as you returned from battle,” he said.

“Did she say why?” Amity asked and he shook his head.

“No, only that she needed to talk to you about something.” Emira shrugged. “You’ll have to ask her, I think she’s down by the river.” 

“I’ll go see.” she nodded, shaking the water off her hands and slinging her cloak back over her shoulders, pinning it in place and grabbing her ax as she followed them out.

“Let us know at the evening meal what she said,” Edric called as she made her way quickly through the village. It was still early and the sun was only just now beginning to dip toward the horizon and the worn dirt roads that cut between buildings were filled with sound and chatter as people passed by her as they went about their daily chores, even in the cold, nodding or calling out a greeting to their young Jarl as she walked by them toward the edge of the woods. Children scampered about almost always underfoot as they screamed and played, throwing snow at each other. Surprisingly, they don’t avoid the warrior with the scarred face, carrying the battleax, instead, they trail along behind her, they tug at her tunic, or grab her free hand as she walked. 

She smiled at them, swinging one or two by the arms, much to their delight. She has always been a welcome sight to the village children, telling them stories and sometimes joining in on their games when her time allowed for it. Today is no different, and they beg her to tell them stories of her battles or the gods, but she doesn’t have the time today and they groan as she tells them so only smiling at them.

This is her home and one she will defend to the death, for reasons like the ones following along under her feet. Other villages along the southern coast where Boneshaven sits also enjoy the Jarls protection, on a few stipulations, one of which being that they add Baldur to their daily prayers to the more prominent and popular gods. They do these things and Amity happily defends these smaller villages from wandering raiders and warbands, it does not hurt that this puts Boneshaven at the top of the other village’s lists for trading partners. 

Amity has made it her mission in life to bring awareness to one of the most important, but least acknowledged of the gods. For one as important to life as he is, Baldur is one of, if not perhaps, the least praised of the Aesir gods, something Amity has taken it upon herself to correct.

The path thinned of people and buildings the closer to the edge of the village she gets, and before she knows it, she’s leaving the village borders for the forest. She shooed the children back toward their homes, much to their disappointment, but they obeyed the jarl with little complaining and scampered off as Amity disappeared into the trees, snow crunching under her boots.

The trees are bare of foliage, but still thick enough to make it hard to see, despite that, the path to the river is worn in the dirt beneath her feet, even though it is covered in snow Amity could walk there in her sleep regardless of the visibility of the path, though there are footprints in the snow that lead her where she wants to go. Some branches scratch at her face and she hacked away a few of the more cumbersome ones with her ax, clearing the path for those who would come later and making enough noise that some birds took off from the branches overhead.

“I thought that was you I heard cutting down the forest…,” A voice greeted her as she stepped up to the riverbank.

The village herbalist, Willow, is kneeling in the dead grass with a bucket at her side, filled with water and some kind of plant Amity can’t right off name.

“You’d know if I was cutting down the forest,” she smirked and Willow rolled her eyes.

“Yeah, you’d just set it on fire,” she huffed and Amity chuckled under her breath as she sat her ax on the ground by her feet. 

“Ed and Em said you wanted to talk to me?” she asked and Willow nodded, standing and brushing the dirt and snow from her hands, red from the cold.

“Some hunters came back this morning, they saw a wolf in the woods,” she finally said.

“A wolf…,” Amity deadpanned, giving the herbalist a flat stare as she crossed her arms. “The woods are full of…,” she started, frowning.

“The size of a full-grown bear…,” Willow finished, planting a hand on her hip.

Amity blinked at that.

“The size of a bear?” she repeated, stunned by that and Willow nodded. 

“They claimed they were near the old abandoned temple down by the shore, chasing an elk and they saw a massive black wolf roaming around the ruins.” Willow shrugged.

“Who saw it?” 

"Mattholomule and Morton…" 

Amity snorted at that.

"So a known liar and man dropped too many times by his mother as a babe?…" Amity pursed her lips, unimpressed.

"I know, but better safe than sorry, and they ran screaming back into the village at the first sign of daybreak telling everyone about it,” she sighed, rolling her eyes at the fact she'd awoken this morning to the two running past her home screaming bloody murder about a giant wolf in the woods. “If you don’t at least check it out they might incite panic in the whole village,” she advised. She was right of course, Willow usually was, it was why Amity chose the herbalist to be her chief advisor, though the twins liked to pretend they were her personal counsel, joking that they were the Muninn and Huginn to her Odin. 

“Your right, I have to go out in the morning for some plants anyway, I’ll have a look then.” she nodded and Willow seemed satisfied by that. 

“What plants are you looking for? I might have some,” she asked instead.

“Spindlewood,” she smirked as Willow made a face at that. “I need them to make the paste to restain my hair.

“That’s the only thing they're good for,” Willow snorted. “They stink, Amity,” Willow grumbled, picking up her bucket. “But while you're out if you see any Juniper, grab it for me… or any yarrow!”

The jarl just smiled and nodded along as they walked back toward the village. 

~ ~ 

The sun hadn’t risen yet but pale light was beginning to stretch its fingers across the darkness of the sky, providing just enough light for Amity to see her way through the darkened woods. It was bitterly cold without the warmth of the sun and she pulled the collar of fur closer to her neck, trying to keep in as much of her body heat as possible.

She walked quickly, she’s cold and tired after yesterday’s battle and she just wants to sit by the fire and rest. She’s going to collect her plants, look for any abnormally large wolves and go home to thaw. 

She doubts Mattholomule and Morton saw a wolf at all, much less one the size of a bear, but she has to at least look, anything was possible and if she let something like that slip by her and something happened to any of the villagers...? 

No, it was better to be safe than sorry. With that thought, she shouldered her ax a little higher, numb fingers wrapped around the smooth wooden handle, and hurried through the woods, snow crunching beneath her feet. 

She’d been to the abandoned temple a good mile from the village only a few times since she’d settled in Boneshaven two years ago. It was a half-destroyed, crumbling pile of stone that could barely be considered a building anymore, destroyed in one war or another by the followers of some old god or another. One couldn’t even tell what god it had been dedicated to originally. Where sigils or banners had once hung had been scratched out or torn away and right now much of it is covered in a thick layer of snow, further obscuring it from view.

She hummed to herself as she walked quietly around the large, crumbling walls. It's nearly silent save for the noise she is making as she walked through the snow, there aren't even any birds chirping and other than her own, there are no tracks in the snow that point out a wolf, of any size, much less the size the two thick-skulled hunters had claimed.

Amity huffed, leaning the head of her ax on the ground as she glanced around, If she squints, she can tell that this place was once probably quite magnificent. Where time has not ravaged it, the stone is smooth and large, with intricate runes and knots carved within, though much of it has been worn away with wind and rain. She walked through the temple's main entryway, through the still standing archway, and into the large rotunda, a carved stone altar at its center; she walked up to it as she glanced around. 

It’s pretty, in a decrepit way, the dark stone, covered in snow gives everything a quiet, solemn feel.

“Kind of early be roaming old temples isn’t it?”

Amity screamed at the sudden voice coming from in front of her and she lifted her ax threateningly as a figure moved out of the shadows in front of her, how had she not seen them?

“Whoa, whoa, I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to startle you!” On the other side of the altar is a woman, probably her age by the looks of it. She’s tall, taller than Amity by a good bit, even from this distance she can tell. Tall and lean with dark brown hair shorn short, save the single braid hanging from behind her left ear. Curiously her skin is darker than anyone Amity knows, where the people of the Isles are usually pale, the woman before her is of a darker, warm hue, with eyes to match. Perhaps most bizarre of all though is the way she’s dressed.

The tunic is a thin and short-sleeved one, certainly made for summer, not the dead of winter. It’s a pale cream color, tied to her waist by a simple chorded belt, and she’s wearing a violet cloak, hung from around her neck by a round, gold pin with the tri horns of Odin engraved into it, along with simple black pants tucked into her boots. How was she not freezing?

“Who are you?” Amity demanded, frowning, and hefting her ax in a clear threat. The woman just smiled at her.

“Just a wanderer, stayed here for the night. I didn’t mean to startle you,” she apologized.

Amity pursed her lips, easing a little but not anywhere near letting her guard down, though she doubted this stick of a woman was any threat.

“You shouldn’t be out here, they say there's a large wolf roaming around,” Amity informed, she didn’t believe it, but if there was a chance, she didn’t want some wanderer to be mauled by it. For a brief few seconds, a strange look seemed to pass over the woman’s face but it was gone as quickly as it came.

“Oh, yeah, yeah. I heard about that, that’s why I spent the night here, in this old temple to Baldur,” she explained, scratching the back of her head. 

Amity blinked at that, eyes wide.

“What makes you think this is a temple to Baldur?” she asked, brows furrowed.

“Oh, the..” she started as she took a step forward but stopped when Amity raised her ax and the woman held up her hands. “...The sigil on the altar.” she pointed, and sure enough, Amity glanced down, and engraved onto the altar's surface was the symbol of light.

This used to be a temple dedicated to Baldur. How had it come to be destroyed and why? Amity is already thinking, almost forgetting about the stranger in front of her, almost. 

“If there is a wolf around here, you better go once the sun rises, to be safe,” Amity said, breath coming out in a cloud as she looked her over and found no weapon.

“I think I’ll be alright, but thanks.” The stranger smiled and Amity stared back for a second before turning to go, keeping a careful eye on the woman until she was out of the old temple.

Once she was sure she was alone the woman sighed.

“I told you not to let anyone see you, King!” she stomped a foot and turned to look into the shadows. 

A loud snort is her answer and from the darkness, a bear-sized black wolf appeared, the top half of a wolf’s skull laid over its own head, rust-colored eyes glare out from the sockets of the skull.

“I am the god of darkness and winter, I take orders from no one,” he huffed, plopping down onto his haunches and turning his head away in a pout. “Especially not you, Baldur.” 

“You’re going to give me away, and you know I hate it when you call me that!” She frowned, crossing her arms.

“The other gods call you that, and the mortals,” he grumbled.

“Their older and teasing me, and mortals don’t know any better, they think I’m a man, too,” she said as she walked out of the old temple into the snow, where dawn was finally rising over the Isles, King on her heels

“I’m older than you…,” King huffed.

“We’re twins, you aren’t that much older!” She shouted as he pranced by her, head up.

“Still older!” he sang before breaking into loud cackling. “Come on, you got to meet the warrior that’s picked you as their patron god, let’s go home, Luz.” King sighed as they crunched through the snow.

“But I didn’t get a chance to learn anything!” she argued and King snorted again.

“She’s a mortal, what’s there to know? They do stuff in our names so they can ask favors of us. Money, power, yadda, yadda.” The wolf gave a lupine version of a shrug.

“But I started gaining new worshipers two years ago from her battles and she’s never asked me for anything! Not in a way, I was able to hear anyway… she’s interesting.” she scratched the back of her head and hummed to herself.

She’d been surprised when word got to her that a mortal warrior had been winning battles and dedicating her victories to her. That just didn’t happen, warriors went to her father or siblings for blessings or favors. Thunder or war most often, but light and joy? That was new to Luz, and not many things were to someone who’d been around as long as she had. 

She’d gotten curious, and since it was the height of Winter, she wasn’t exactly busy, she figured why not meet the warrior themselves? Mortal got depictions of her so wrong she was able to freely move among them, most of the gods were, so they encouraged the names and images the people made for them.

But she hadn’t learned anything, except what she looked like, and she’s already known that by sending King to scout. 

“Can we just go back to Asgard now?” King’s whining broke her free from her thoughts.

“You can if you want, I need to figure this out,” she hummed scratching her chin.

“Ugh, fine, I’ll stick around. I have to keep my little sister out of trouble,” he cackled and Luz scowled.

“You’re the one always in trouble, and you are not that much older than me!” she cried, chasing the massive wolf through the woods, snow crunching under their steps and King’s cackling bouncing off the trees.


	2. Chapter 2

Amity is tired, to say the least.

The last few days have been nothing but constant talk about trade routes with other nearby villages, though talk is much too kind a word for the near-constant screaming and shouting the delegates have been doing for a solid three days now, and as the largest village on the southern coast, with the most friendly relations among all the nearby communities, Boneshaven and its' jarl had been asked to oversee the event so that things are fair and impartial; and it’s Amity’s worst nightmare. 

Old men twice or even three times her age all sitting around the long table in the mead hall screaming at each other constantly and turning to her to ask for her opinion, though usually, it's asking her why they're right and why everyone else is wrong. 

Willow and the twins sat at her side the entire time, though they don't offer much in the way of assistance, there's not really much for them to assist with. It's mostly her stopping arguments before they can break out into fistfights or worse yet, flying axes and swords.

Village’s supplies were being ransacked while heading down the main road that passed along the southern coast and all of their towns, and now all the villages are worried about their goods. No one wants to send their goods out where they might be pillaged, especially in the dead of winter, but no one wants to travel to trade either.

They all want everyone else to make the concessions in their stead while screaming at each other that not to do so is selfish for not considering the good of the whole region and Amity is a hair's breadth from being the one flinging the axes, and hers is not a small one.

She's had a headache for two days now and she can't stomach the idea of sitting through another meeting for the entirety of the day for the fourth day in a row when no one still has any suggestions, much less a solution to their problem.

They're supposed to meet again today but she can't, if she has to threaten one more jarl from a neighboring village they might just all go to war.

She needed a break.

Amity stepped out of her home, ax hanging from her belt behind her and a bow and quiver slipped over her shoulder.

She doesn't get any farther than the fence before Willow is chasing after her.

"Amity, where are you going? The other jarls are all going to be waiting in the mead hall soon," she said as she followed along behind her, but Amity did not slow or stop.

"Not today," is all she says.

"What?" Willow blinked, following along behind. 

"I cannot sit and listen to them yell at each other for one more day in a row," she declared. "I'm going hunting, I'll return when I return and we can pick this up again tomorrow." Her tone leaves no room for further argument and Willow knows better than to argue with her friend when she gets like this, she stopped and watched as Amity walked beyond the village boundaries and into the woods by herself.

Amity does not stop nor slow till she's a good distance away from the village, far enough away that she cannot even see the smoke from the forge anymore.

She let out a breath she didn't know she'd been holding, holding for the last couple of days actually. The cold air stings her lungs so she takes a slow, deep breath. It feels good like it's the first breath she's taken in a while and she released it just as slowly in a building cloud of white against the air.

Finally, her body relaxed and she continued on through the woods. She tramps through the snow without much thought, she'd been thinking too much lately, she just needs to do something she enjoys. Hunting, alone, is one of those things. No one to come to her with their problems or concerns, no yelling, just her in the quiet of the woods, killing something.

The next time she really looked up, she had unconsciously wandered to the old abandoned temple. She looked up at it in a whole new light. This was once a temple to the god of light, but why out here in the middle of nowhere? As far as Amity knows the village of Boneshaven is the only settlement that has ever been nearby, but this place is old, very. Who built it and why was it destroyed? She hummed as she looked it over, walking around the outskirts of the ruins. The longer she looked at it the more an idea formed.

The base was still strong and uncracked, as well as the rotunda, mostly the thatched room and the outer courtyard walls were what was broken beyond repair, but those could easily be torn down and rebuilt.

Amity’s mind is already decided when the ideal forms, but she does at least think about it for a few moments.

She’s going to have it rebuilt. As an ardent devotee of Baldur, Amity can think of fewer worthwhile pursuits than to restore this sacred place to its former glory; she owes her very life to the god of light after all. 

With her decision made, Amity wandered away from the temple, back into the woods. 

It didn’t take long before she finally came upon a large, wild boar, and she does mean large. Its’ tusks are easily two feet long, curled up toward its head. Those would be perfect for some of her brother's carving projects, not to mention the meat and hide of course. 

Such a creature is dangerous though, all it would take was one well-placed jab of its head to break the jarls bones. She needs to stay back and be careful.

Slowly, she pulled the bow from her shoulder and notched an arrow in the string, fingers numb from the cold wrapped around the end of the shaft. Her breath came out in small, slow puffs as she carefully aimed, drawing the string back slowly toward her ear, still as stone. 

She’s just about to lose the arrow when the sudden crunching of snow pricks her ears and swiftly from the bushes a figure appears, diving through the air.

A tall, somewhat familiar-looking stranger.

The animal squealed in surprise as the wanderer pounced on its back with a triumphant sound. The boar kicked and jumped, trying to dislodge the woman.

“Whoa, whoa!” she shouted as it flung her around, though she felt fast for a moment before her grip failed and it flung her across the ground. 

She went flying into the snow as the boar took off through the woods and the woman sat up, quickly shaking the snow from her hair. 

“By my father, this isn’t over, I will prevail, beast!” She shouted after it, shaking a fist.

“By the gods, what are you doing?!” Amity can’t help but shout at the wanderer as she sat up in the snow, she’s still wearing a short-sleeved summer tunic and light cloak of violet 

Luz looked up and blinked at the warrior standing over her in the snow and smiled.

“Well, funny running into you here!” she said as she stood and brushed the snow from her clothes.

Amity frowned, was this girl touched with madness? It was the middle of winter and she’s still wearing thin summer fabric and running through the woods tackling dangerous wild creatures.

“What do you think you’re doing?” She lowered her bow and glowered. “You’re going to get yourself killed!” she scowled.

Luz couldn’t help but laugh at that, which was the wrong thing to do it seemed as Amity’s look only darkened. 

“Ah, no, it’s fine.” she waved a hand. “Really, I’m fine, I’m hunting.” 

Amity huffed, why did she even care if some foolish wanderer wanted to freeze to death or be gored by a wild boar she was trying to catch barehanded?

“You chased off my prey,” she grumbled instead. The woman cocked her head at that.

“Actually, I’ve been tracking that beast for the past two hours, that’s not the first time it’s flung me off it’s back,” she laughed. 

Amity just frowned at that. 

“Have it then,” she huffed, turning to start walking away.

Luz panicked, if she left again she’d never learn anything!

“Hold on!” Luz called trotting after her. Amity turned sharply, hand going to the ax hanging behind her at her waist and Luz stopped cold, raising her hands defensively. 

“I’m a good sport.” She smiled. “How about a little fun? A competition for the boar,” she offered.

Amity cocked a brow at that, intrigued by the proposition, but still wary of this fool.

“What sort of competition?” Amity had always had a competitive streak, her siblings could attest to that, so despite her better instincts telling her to turn and go, she didn’t. The woman smiled brightly. 

“We take turns, attempt to hunt the boar with a single strike, you kill it and it’s yours,” she offered.

Amity hummed thoughtfully, surely it would be a simple matter to out hunt a weaponless woman with less sense then the gods gave stones.

“I accept your challenge,” she smirked as she shouldered her bow. “I’m Amity, Jarl of Boneshaven,” she introduced herself. 

“Then let the hunt begin, Jarl.” The woman smiled and turned to trot off into the woods, pointedly not introducing herself. Amity blinked at her back, surely this one was touched, she had to be. 

With that thought, she hurried off after her through the trees. They followed the boar’s tracks a good half mile before they came upon it, snuffling through the snow just in front of them.

“You jumped at it last, it’s my turn,” she mumbled, pulling the bow from her shoulder and notching an arrow. Luz hummed in agreement from where she was hunkered down several feet away. Amity was still careful to keep her distance from the stranger. 

She carefully lined up a shot and drew back the bow.

Luz glanced at her and smirked before coughing, loudly. The boar jolted and took off running before she could even think to loose the arrow.

“You did that on purpose!” Amity scowled turning to her. The woman looked at her innocently, but Amity can see the gleam in her eye that tells of something else. 

“I would never, Jarl. I simply had a tickle in my throat.” she batted her eyes at Amity who frowned. She ignored it as she jumped up. “My turn!” she sing-songed as they took off after their prey. Amity grumbled to herself as she followed. 

It didn’t go far, and now it was Luz, creeping forward, preparing to pounce on the beast, barehanded, which Amity still thought was beyond foolish, but as she watched the woman scoot closer, she smirked to herself.

Just as Luz was about to fling herself out of the brush, Amity slid her foot out, catching her shin and sending her careening face-first into the snow. 

The boar took off running once more at the commotion and Amity snickered to herself as the woman pushed herself up out of the snow. She shook the snow off of her face and looked up at Amity.

The jarl expected her to be angry or even yell but instead, she just laughed as she pushed herself up to stand.

"Fair, jarl, fair," she chuckled as she looked at Amity with a knowing smile that Amity can't help but grin at.

This set off a pattern for the next two hours of them taking turns sneaking up on the creature only to sabotage each other in some exceedingly more and more ridiculous fashion that included Amity stepping on the other woman's cloak when she’d crouched down and her 'accidentally' bumping the jarl when she’d been about to lose a shot, for which Amity accidentally smacked her with her bow. 

They squabble lightly back and forth and Amity finds herself giggling loudly, which makes the wanderer grin brightly at her.

She can't remember the last time she wasn't worried about anything important and actually just having fun. 

That bright smile keeps landing on her and it would be a lie for her to say it doesn't make her cheeks warm, though they're covered by a flush already from the biting cold of winter. 

She tries to shake it off. The girl is obviously a little touched. No one with all their runes would be running around in the dead of winter dressed as she is, though Amity hasn't seen her so much a shiver once.

It's the wanderers’ turn again, and she moved far away from Amity, to have a better shot, which made the jarl roll her eyes.

But it seemed the boar had had enough of their game and as soon as it spotted her, instead of turning to run off into the forest, it pawed at the ground before charging straight for her.

A spike of fear shot through Amity and she moved automatically, notching an arrow and with a loud twang let it loose, sticking the beast directly in the side of the head.

It collapsed sliding forward a few more inches, only a few feet from her companion who was looking down at it with wide eyes. Amity breathed a sigh of relief.

"Hey, it was my turn!" The wanderer whined and Amity blinked at her in surprise.

"Are you serious, it was about to kill you!?" Amity frowned, eyes narrowed and she looked like she wanted to argue but stopped and crossed her arms, pouting. 

"Fine…" 

Amity walked over and knelt at the beast's side. It was dead alright.

"Well, I guess the hunt is done. You win, jarl, the beast is yours," she conceded.

"Not as fairly as I would have liked to win…" Amity frowned. She had killed it, and although she'd saved the woman's life she didn't feel right winning this way, but the woman only laughed.

"I'm not sure I'd call any of that 'fair'." she smiled and Amity couldn't help but agree as her own lips pulled upward in a smile. "Keep it, I don't need it," she admitted.

“Then why were you out hunting a boar with your bare hands?” Amity cocked a brow at her, she was curious. Her companion shrugged.

“My brother claimed I couldn’t, I aimed to prove him wrong.” She grinned and Amity snorted.

“I think your brother aimed to get you killed,” Amity told her and she smiled, shaking her head.

“Naw, he’s just a show-off who thinks himself the best hunter in the family, but we all know that’s our father.” she shook her head as she turned and started off into the woods without another word.

“Where are you going?” Amity called after her.

“I best be heading home before my brother comes looking for me, he scares people!” she laughed as she went. “Farewell, Amity,” she called as she trotted off into the woods, cloak fluttering behind her as she disappeared among the trees. 

Amity hummed as she pulled her ax from her belt and hefted it overhead, and with a mighty swing, severed the boar’s head with a crunch. She was going to offer the hide to her, she needed warmer clothes. If she was out hunting barehanded they must have been having a lean winter, no matter what excuse she gave.

A strange woman for certain. 

Strange but… 

Amity shook her head. The ruddy color of her cheeks was from the cold, nothing more.

She hauled her kill home and spent the rest of the day and evening gutting and skinning it, hanging the coat to dry, and with the winter cold, it wouldn’t take long for it to dry so it could be turned into something useful. Her brother squealed with delight when she handed over the two large tusks.

“I can make so many spoons out of these!” he giggled to himself and the sisters only rolled their eyes. 

The next morning Amity feels refreshed and ready to face the gathering of other jarls, because after thinking about her day yesterday, she finally has a solution to their problem, and informs them the minute the meeting begins.

"We’ll each send a group of warriors to patrol the roads on certain days to protect everyone’s goods as they pass along the coastal road."

After some brief discussion, not nearly as heated as the last few days, they agree, and a schedule is made.

With that done, Amity decides to bring up her own new project, the reconstruction of the temple to Baldur in the forest by the shore. All the villages assembled are ones that Amity has saved at least once, and once one agrees, they're all clamoring over each other to do so and she soon has enough workers and materials pledged to her cause to begin.

They start five days later and spend the entirety of that day clearing away the rubble, plants, and other wildlife that have moved into the temple over time. It's backbreaking word made all the harder by the biting cold, but at least it isn't snowing.

After nightfall, she walked around, torch in hand and inspecting the place now that the volunteers from the other villages have left 

It's already beginning to look leaps and bounds better than it did before and she's quite pleased with herself. She couldn't wait until it was finished.

"What's going on in here?" She jumped, spinning around, hand going straight to her ax but she relaxed some when she saw a familiar stranger dressed much too thinly, hand falling away from her ax. 

"You…," Amity greeted, but she has no other idea on how she should greet someone who won't give their name.

If the woman is offended she doesn't show it, in fact, she smiled as she walked closer, though stopped a few feet away when she noticed Amity tense.

"All the rubble is gone, and the weeds…," she said with awe as she looked around. 

"I'm having it rebuilt, we finished clearing away the rubble today, tomorrow we start on the walls," Amity informed her, and she's looking at her with a strange look, one Amity can't begin to decipher, awe mixed with something else she can't name.

"Why this old place?" she questioned.

"It was a temple to Baldur, and it will be again. The god of light is my patron, and I can restore this place for him, so I will."

Her companion only continued to give her that strange look.

"Why light? I've known a lot of warriors and not one of them has ever chosen to champion Baldur. What does a warrior need with joy, purity, light, or summer sun?" she cocked her head and the confusion on her face was almost palpable. "Warriors need blessings of protection, Baldur never protected anyone…"

"The god of light saved my life," Amity cut her off sharply, but her mouth immediately snapped shut, she hadn't meant to say that. That was more than she’s ever even told her brother or sister. Even in the dimness of the temple with only Amity’s torch to light her face, the surprise is apparent.

"How?" she asked, and Amity clenched her jaw, turning away. 

It didn't take long for it to be apparent Amity was not going to answer her question, which only made Luz all the more curious about the mortals' reasoning. She looked around at the temple, cleared of rubble and dirt, and though it still didn't look even half like what it had when it had been built four-hundred years ago, it was still a great improvement and it made Luz feel warm inside.

"I never did give you my name when we were on the hunt…," she started, breaking the tense silence and Amity shrugged.

"I simply assumed you wished to keep it." 

"I did, but now I wish to give it to you." she smiled and Amity's stomach flipped. Too much mead at dinner, that was all.

"If that's what you want…," she trailed off, turning away, but she kept her eye on the woman from the corner of her eye. The firelight flickering across her face almost made her brown eyes seem to glow.

"Luz," she said. "You can call me Luz." 

Amity waited, but she offered no clan name nor place of origin, but that was her business. Amity had abandoned her clan name once too and simply added the name of her village in its place.

"Luz," she repeated the name. It rolled easily off her tongue, felt, not familiar, but just, right.

Luz grinned and a sudden breeze swept through the still open temple ruffling their clothes. The bitterly cold chill of the wind stung Amity's face

"Whoo, windy tonight…," Luz laughed, which reminded Amity.

"Ah, I have something for you." She started and began to dig through the satchel at her side.

"For me?" Luz blinked, pointing to herself. Amity hummed an affirmative as she dug through her bag. "How did you know I would be here?" She blinked.

"I didn't, I've been carrying it around, I figured I would run into you sooner or later again." She shrugged and pulled a bundle of fabric from her bag and held it out to Luz, who stared at it for a long minute before reaching out to take it.

"I don't know if your family's having a lean winter and can't trade for fur or what, but it seemed you could use this," Amity explained as Luz unfolded it.

A cloak, made of animal skin, covered in thick, brown, coarse hair.

"It's the boar we hunted…," Amity went on when Luz said nothing. "I don't really have any use for the skin right now and it seemed like you could use something warmer to wear…," she trailed off, unsure what else to say. She knows, of course, knows it's not the cold making her cheeks hot now, but she ignored it all the same.

"Thank you, Amity." Luz finally spoke, and the jarl looked up to find that bright smile directed at her before Luz slung the cloak over her shoulder. "I'll treasure it," she said and that made her face grow hotter still.

"Think nothing of it…," she mumbled. " I need to return to the village…will you be safe on your own out here in the dark?" she asked, looking at Luz over her shoulder as she moved toward the temple's main entryway.

"I'll be fine." Luz smiled and Amity gave a jerky nod before hurrying out, the light fading as she moved away with her torch till Luz can no longer see the faint glow.

She smiled to herself, fingering the new cloak.

She can feel the cold and heat, but not uncomfortably. Her invulnerability, something unique only to her, something none of the other gods possess, to all things leaves her comfortable always, but it's a beautiful gesture that leaves her feeling giddy inside. Unlike her siblings, who receive gifts constantly from their worshippers, Luz is unused to it.

This isn’t an offering though, at least, not in the usual sense. It's not a gift from a follower to their patron, well, it is, but Amity doesn’t know that, so the meaning has changed. This is simply a gift made out of… well, Luz isn't sure why Amity has done this, other than kindness. Either way, it makes warmth spread through her. 

"What's got you all happy?" King's voice broke through her giddiness as he melted out of the shadows.

"Amity made a cloak for me, she was worried I was cold…" she smiled to herself.

"Who?" King cocked his head, glowing, rust-colored eyes gazed at her from beneath the sockets of the skull. 

"The warrior that picked me as her patron," Luz explained.

"Oh, the green-haired woman," King snorted. "She does know that you can't feel pain right, that winter can't hurt you? As if I would ever allow it even if it could," he huffed, lifting his nose in the air. Luz chuckled and leaned down to plant a kiss on his skull covered head. He grumbled but said nothing. 

"I know, brother, but, no, she doesn't know who I am…"

"Then why did she give you a cloak, and why don't you tell her? She'd be groveling at your feet, where mortals belong!"

"She's kind…," is the simple answer as Luz smiled to herself, holding the warm clothing close to herself, but then frowned. "And that's exactly what I don't want. I don't want her tripping all over herself to bow and grovel because I'm the god of light."

"What do you want then, what's the point of all this?" He groaned, plopping himself down on his haunches. “Don’t think I haven’t noticed you watching her in her village from the woods.” He side-eyed her.

I want… I wanna know why a warrior like that, picked me. No warrior has ever picked me! Why not Boscha?" She threw up a hand.

"I don't know why anyone would want that boneheaded sister of ours anyway." He rolled his eyes.

"I'm telling her you said that," Luz teased.

"Tell her!" He barked, jumping up, hackles raised. "I'm not afraid of the god of thunder!" He whipped his head away with a snort. Luz just chuckled. 

She had more questions about Amity, now more than ever.

How did light save her life?" 

"Come on, let's go home." Luz started for the temple's entryway. 

"Finally!" He grumbled, following her out.


	3. Chapter 3

Luz had a problem.

Which was saying a lot for an invulnerable god of light and joy. Not much could usually bring her down, but here she was.

It was a month and a half into her investigation of the mortal warrior that had chosen her as her patron god, and she's no closer to discovering why Amity has chosen her than she was at day one. That's not to say she had come away from this with nothing, in fact, she'd come to several conclusions over this time period. They are thus:

Amity is kind as if the cloak didn't already tell her that much, she'd been watching from the woods, watching on the days when Amity played with the village children or told them stories of battles or the gods, especially Luz, which makes her cheeks hot, even if it is under that ridiculous name the mortals came up with.

Baldur. She snorted at that. Not that the others had it any better. 

She was brilliant too, a natural problem solver and diplomat, though she could have a bit of a temper. People from other villages came to the jarl of Boneshaven for advice and to mediate disputes fairly. Even at just twenty summers old, they recognize her wisdom and good sense. 

Something else Luz has discovered is that when things cannot be fairly and peacefully discussed, Amity is a monster of a warrior. There is no hesitation when she charged into battle, face painted and ax raised overhead before she started smashing through shields and cutting off limbs left and right with her two-handed great ax. She is victorious every time, not always unscathed, but victorious nonetheless, even if she has to limp afterward, she never let her men see her falter. 

Luz had never particularly cared about fighting, or wars, unlike the majority of her siblings, whose powers, if not directly related to fighting, gained some advantage when the mortals fought amongst themselves; even Augustus. Gus had his share of fun among them when they fought, mischief was his thing after all. 

But that's never been her strong suit, nor her area of interest. She's the god of light, joy, purity, and summer sun. 

Mortals are beings constantly at odds with each other, so they fought, often. They're always looking for ways to one-up each other and gain an advantage on the battlefield, to this end they turned to the gods for blessings and boons, but Luz has never been one of them. Which is one of the reasons she found it so strange a mortal warrior, one as skilled as Amity has positioned herself as a devoted acolyte of light. Her sister would be beside herself if a warrior like Amity chose her as her patron, instead, she'd picked her. What Luz had said before to Amity was true, sure, she had her powers and abilities, and maybe fearlessness would be useful, but Amity has that all on her own, she needs no divine help there, and as far as her other powers go, not one of them could ever assist Amity in battle.

There have been a few battles over the last month, and the more she sees the more she questions why Amity chose her instead of her brother or sister. Boscha is the God of strength, thunder, and protection, a warrior fan favorite, so to speak, or even Hooty. The god of war was… well, an idiot, as much as Luz loved that idiot, but he was powerful, and no one could deny that. Warrior’s asked for his favor for a reason, even if he rarely granted it, he was hardly ever paying attention, he spent his time annoying the rest of the Aesir to death in Asgard with his incessant jabbering. Perhaps one of the reasons the mortals fought so much was they were always throwing Hooty out of Asgard and into Midgard below?

She just couldn’t figure out why Amity chose her, but she had, and Luz can tell that it’s made a difference. The more mortals worshipped them the stronger their powers and over the last two years Luz had felt her power growing steadily stronger for the first time in a very long time, though she hadn’t been able to pinpoint the cause of it until recently, then she’d started hearing about the green-haired warrior claiming victories in her name and she dropped everything to head for the southern coast, not that she had been doing much anyway, and her twin had insisted on tagging along of course, with the excuse that it was winter and he had things to do in Midgard anyway. 

Amity had not been what she was expecting, though she wasn't exactly sure what she had been expecting. Amity was a lot of things, most of which Luz could hardly begin to start puzzling out most of the time. They’d been spending a lot of time together while she tried though, leading to all the things she had been learning. 

Perhaps one of the most important things about Amity she had learned though?

Amity is, overall, amazing. 

She’s not like anyone else Luz has ever met before, and Luz has met a lot of people over the course of her long-lived life, mortal and divine. 

She’s a peerless warrior, incredibly smart and kind, but she also had the most musical laugh Luz has ever heard and it makes her stomach churn when it’s her Amity is laughing at, whether she means to make her laugh or not. She’s also beautiful and every time Luz laid eyes on her, her heart started beating much too hard within her chest against her will. 

Where time has always seemed to move incredibly slow for Luz, since no year, season, or day is ever all that much different from the rest when you’re immortal, the last month and a half have seemed to whiz by her within the blink of an eye. She’s at the point where nearly every day she hung around the outskirts of Boneshaven, waiting to see if Amity was going to be busy or not. If not, she strolled through the town and bothered the jarl, though Amity didn’t seem to mind at all, though she did seem to be growing more… shy, as the days go on, which Luz couldn’t figure out. Before the jarl had been very in her face, now…, well, meek was not the right word, Amity was still very upfront, but also sort of, bashful? It was strange to Luz, but maybe she was imagining it, seeing what she wanted to see.

Among all she had discovered about the young jarl of Boneshaven, Luz had discovered something about herself as well. 

She is falling for her, hard.

It took her a few weeks to realize what was going on because she’d never felt this way before. She’d seen it happen plenty of course. Most of the gods have had their fair share of lovers, both mortal and divine, but not Luz. She’d never had any interest before, romantic or physical, until now.

Amity had a way of making her face flush and her palms sweat, just rendering her totally speechless when she smiled or laughed, or just anything really.

She was hopelessly smitten and had no idea what to do about it. She was still keeping the secret of her divinity from Amity as well. She wouldn’t look at her the same if she knew. She wants Amity to see her, not the god, but the person. She can’t tell her, not yet anyway. 

She has no idea how to make her interest clear though. She has absolutely no practical experience in this facet of life, for as many years as she'd been alive and it hadn't really been a problem, till now.

She grumbled to herself, slumping further onto the surface of the wooden table. 

Amity is busy with preparations for a feast Boneshaven is holding in which all the nearby villages have been invited to, but she promised they would spend the day together after it was over, so with a few days to kill she figured she might as well go home, so here she sat at one of the long wooden tables in her father's mead hall.

Valhalla is quiet today, but it is the middle of the day, the majority of the warriors and other gods are still passed out from the revelry of the night before. Every night is like that here though, it's one of the reasons Luz is rarely in attendance, it's always much too loud here. 

Today is quiet though, and it's the perfect place for her to think.

How was she supposed to show the warrior that she wanted more, that she had romantic feelings for her? Would Amity even feel the same? That thought struck her in the chest, a punch of pain that was new. 

Luz groaned, letting her forehead drop to the table with a loud thump. She had absolutely no idea what she was doing.

“What’s got you looking like someone pissed in your mead? 

A familiar voice called as someone loudly plopped into the seat in front of her on the other side of the table.

She looked up to find her sister, mug in hand, as usual, looking at her as though Luz had personally wrong her; her usual face.

Boscha flung her tattered and torn, crimson red cloak off to the side as she made herself comfortable as she looked at Luz from across the table with a cocked brow, her red hair was tied back in a long braid and a braided knot in the shape of an eye was painted in the middle of her forehead. 

"Nothing…,” Luz started, but Boscha was quick to cut her off.

“Don’t give me that shit, little sister,” Boscha snorted. “I can’t remember the last time you looked so down, so spit it out.” 

“Really-," she started, but then another voice was piping up.

"She's tripping all over herself for the mortal warrior that's chosen her as their patron." King's voice rings out in the hall and they both look to see him trotting over, the giant black wolf is hard to miss in the large golden hall. Luz scowled at her twin as he hopped into the bench beside Boscha.

"Oh?!" Boscha turned back to her with a grin. "I heard there was a warrior that had chosen you as their patron," she said. "I'll admit, I was a little offended at first, toyed with the idea of smiting them…," she hummed and Luz sucked in a sharp breath, but the God of thunder just grinned. "But I figured, Luz, deserves to have some strong followers, even if they don't have much sense!" She chuckled before taking a long drink from her cup.

“At least she didn’t pick Hooty!” King barked and Boscha snorted. 

“I’ll drink to that!” Boscha held up her flagon to Luz, who huffed but raised her own in agreement.

After downing the whole rest of the mug in one gulp, Boscha wiped her mouth with the back of her hand.

“So, what’s the problem, since when has a mortal not been impressed by us? Just last week I had one throwing themselves at me as soon as I showed up.” The god of thunder snorted. “That tunic couldn’t come off fast enough,” she bragged and Luz rolled her eyes.

“Luz hasn’t told her she’s a god,” King helpfully supplied and Luz scowled at him as their sister gave her a wide-eyed look. He was such a big mouth today!

“What, why?” 

“I don’t want to be worshipped… I want…” she held up her hands, curling her fingers inward as she tried to think of a way to describe it. “I want her to feel the same way about me as I do about her because she likes me, not because I’m a god,” she finally said. 

“This isn't a pleasure thing? You’re actually romantically interested in the mortal…?” Boscha frowned and her sister's face turned red but she didn’t deny the accusation. Boscha leaned back, groaning loudly. 

“What, it’s not like that doesn't happen all the time!” Luz defended herself.

“No, but the mortals at least know what they're getting themselves into. You’re lying to her.” Boscha frowned. 

"I'm not lying!" She slammed her hands on the table. 

"You're not telling her the whole truth either. She thinks you're someone you're not," Boscha sighed, rubbing her temple. "Why didn't you say something?" She turned to King, scowling. He just shrugged.

"I told her the only thing mortals are good for is worshiping us," he huffed and Boscha rolled her eyes.

"I'm going to tell her, just… not yet," Luz mumbled and Boscha sighed.

"The longer you wait the worse this is going to be…," she grumbled under her breath and looking into her empty flagon. "I need more mead for this…"

"Well that's not my problem right now, my problem is how do I impress her, without giving away who I am?" she emphasized. 

"I dunno, I've always been upfront with mortal lovers." The thunder god shrugged. "They're simple, they love when I make it lightning." She grinned. 

Luz sighed and glanced at King.

"Don't even look at me," he huffed, turning away and running his tongue along his sharp, curved teeth.

Luz drummed her fingers thoughtfully on the wood of the table. She needed someone who had more knowledge of mortals, maybe another mortal?

"Oh!" She sat up, struck by an idea. "I know who I need to talk to!" Before either of her siblings could say anything she jumped up and was dashing out of the hall.

"Well, alright then…" Boscha shook her head as she watched her sister disappear and turned to her brother. "Want to go smite some mortals?" 

"Sure, why not,” he agreed, jumping down from the bench. 

~ ~

The little house sat deep in the woods at the base of the mountain, very few people knew of its existence, very few mortals that was, but all the gods were familiar with it and its two inhabitants. 

The oracles, the go-betweens for many of the gods and their select mortals, usually their champions, for those too busy to leave Asgard as often as others could get away with.

Luz had known the oracles a long time, they were very interesting mortals, though mortal was a strong word. 

They were mortal, for certain, but for some service she’d never been sure of to her father, Odin had granted them extended lives. Luz had known the sisters at least four-hundred years after all.

Surely they could help her, they were mortals, even as eccentric as they could be. 

She knocked on the old, worn door and there was some shuffling from inside. Not long after the door opened a fraction and she can see a single amber-colored eye poking out through the crack.

"We don't want any!" The muffled voice called.

"Eda, it's me." Luz smiled and the eye narrowed for a brief moment before the door swung open fully to reveal a middle-aged appearing woman with long gray hair and amber eyes

"Well, well, well, if isn't the god of light and joy gracing this dingy dark hole of despair." She grinned broadly before wrapping her arms around the god.

Luz laughed as the old oracle hugged her. 

"What are you doing here, kid?" she asked, stepping aside to let the god of light enter the house. Luz rolled her eyes, choosing not to mention that she was in fact much, much older than Eda. "Lily, get in here we have a visitor, of the divine kind!" The sounds of movement in the other room were quickly followed by the appearance of the second sister.

"Luz?" Lilith called in surprise at the site of the god of light. "To what do we owe the unexpected pleasure of the favorite child of the all-father," she greeted.

Lilith was always so much more formal with her than Eda. Taking her role as a go-between for the gods and mortals much more seriously than her younger sister.

"Don’t tell my siblings that,” she chuckled. “I need some advice about mortals," she told them.

"What's the problem?" Eda asked, crossing her arms.

"How do… how do mortals impress each other?" she asked.

"That depends on what kind of impress you mean." Lilith cocked a brow at her. “What exactly are you looking to know?” 

"Well…" Luz scratched the back of her head sheepishly. "Like courting, romantic impressing," she said and the sisters shared a look.

"It’s about the same for the divine, why?" Eda asked for both of them. Luz can easily see the question in their eyes.

"I… want to impress a mortal," she informed them. 

"Kid, you can just show up and mortals will be impressed," Eda said, planting a hand on her hip and making Luz sigh.

“I want to impress this woman, but she doesn't know I'm a god and I don't want to tell her yet…" she admitted. Both oracles looked at her with wide eyes.

"Why don't you just tell her you're a god?" Eda asked with a frown, confusion clear on her face “Instantly impressed.” She clapped her hands together. Luz sighed again. 

"Do you remember the mortal warrior I told you I was hearing about?" She asked.

"Ah, the warrior dedicating victories in your name?" Lilith asked and Luz numbed.

"I finally met her, and I've been trying to figure out why she chose me as her patron... I still don't know, she said I saved her life, but never said how." She shrugged. "That's beside the point though, she's… amazing, and... I'm beginning to feel...well, uh... very strongly about her,” Luz finally settled on. “but if I tell her who I am, it will change how she sees me, I want to impress her as Luz, not Baldur. I want her to like me for me, not feel… obligated or something because I’m a god." She looked between the two oracles with determination.

“Luz… with all due respect, a god is who you are. You cannot change your nature by denying it,” Lilith said carefully. Her dealing with other gods had made her quite tactful with them, some of them, like a select few of Luz’s siblings, could have nasty tempers that tended to get the better of them. Luz had never been one of them, but the god of light had never faced this situation before either. 

“No, I know, and I will tell her, but I want…” she trailed off, frustrated to make them understand what she was trying to do.

“You want her to like you for your personality so when you tell her, she won’t see you that differently, won’t be blinded by obligated devotion because you’re her patron,” Eda finally said and Luz perked.

“Yes, yes that exactly!” Luz smiled at Eda, she usually got it when she was trying to explain things. 

The two sisters looked at each other for a long moment before Lilith sighed and they both turned back to look at her.

“I think this is an ill-conceived plan, Luz, but we are, of course, ever at your service.” The elder sister conceded. 

"So you want to know how mortals impress potential romantic partners, huh?" Eda asked.

Luz grinned and nodded enthusiastically.

"Well…," Lilith started. "There is always the tried and true method of giving her gifts of flowers or other small items…," she trailed off and her younger sister rolled her eyes

"The girl is a ferocious warrior, who gives a warrior flowers?" she snorted, looking at her sister.

“What warrior usually chooses the god of light to venerate in their battles?” She shot back with a frown.

“I mean, it’s true, but I’m right here…” Luz frowned and Eda chuckled while her sister flushed.

“Defeat her in a battle to prove you’re better,” Eda suggested.

“I don’t want to defeat her in battle!” Luz yelped.

“It’s not like you couldn’t, you’re invulnerable!” Eda threw out a hand.

“That’s not the same thing as being skilled, just because she can’t actually cut my head off… and if she could, she definitely could…,” Luz hummed, rubbing at her throat. She’d seen the warrior decapitate a fair number of men.

“Perhaps you could take her somewhere she would enjoy?” Lilith suggested. “She’s an adherent of light, maybe she would be interested in a place special to you?” 

“Take her out on Hringhorni,” Eda suggested.

“It would be really hard to explain that massive ship my father gave me to someone who doesn’t know I’m a god…” Luz frowned as she hummed to herself. A place Amity would like that was also special to her...

A sudden thought popped into her head and Luz gasped, smacking a fist into her other palm.

“I got it!” she grinned. 

“Well, out with it, don’t leave us in suspense!” Eda said.

Luz explained her idea and the two glanced at each other before smiling. 

“That sounds perfect, Luz.” The sisters agreed and Luz grinned.


	4. Chapter 4

This was becoming a problem.

It had been a month and a half and it seemed like she ran into Luz anytime she stepped foot outside the village, then Luz had started to wander into the village as well, seeking her out.

She’d wandered out of her home one morning to hear the village children shrieking with laughter somewhere nearby.

When she followed the sounds she found Luz, children crawling all over her as she swung them around by their arms and legs. One hung from each of her legs while one had their arms wrapped around her neck and she held up one in both her hands by the legs, swinging them around in circles and flinging them into the banks of snow much to their delight.

Luz had been laughing right along with them and Amity couldn't help but watch as she ran around with them in the snow, the cloak she’d given her hanging from her shoulders, though the violet cloak still hung beneath it. She could use as many layers as possible. The wanderer was eventually dragged into the snow by the children and Amity finally decided to step in, lest she get frostbite.

She’d shooed the children away much to their disappointment, and Luz’s, though she only laughed as they all scampered off to play away from the two adults, while Amity had brushed snow out of her hair.

The wanderer's cheeks appeared slightly flushed as Amity wiped the snow from her face, the cold probably finally getting to her. She hadn’t even realized she had been smiling stupidly to herself as she was until Luz had called her out on it, grinning back.

‘What’s got you smiling so hard?’ she’d laughed and Amity had paused, realizing that she’d been smiling at Luz like a fool, She did that almost always when she found herself in the taller woman’s presence.

Luz did that so easily, just being nearby seemed to put Amity at ease with her carefree attitude and loud, boisterous nature that was so full of life and excitement that it was infectious.

She found herself disappointed on days she had duties to attend to or the off chance that Luz didn’t show up in the village or somewhere just beyond in the forest that surrounded it.

Most often she showed up at the temple of Baldur they were still reconstructing near the shore. As the jarl overseeing the joint village project, Amity always showed up first and was the last to leave. Luz was often already there when she got there and she would sometimes, depending on how busy she was, follow her around or disappear into the woods until the rest of the workers left.

Then they would sit around in the old temple, talking late into the night. Luz had interesting stories to tell, about herself and her seemingly various and eccentric family members who lived somewhere over the northern mountains, and Amity would tell her about her battles and her time as jarl the last two years, carefully omitting anything from before that time period. As fond, as she was becoming of Luz, she still wasn’t ready to talk about any of that. Thankfully she seemed to pick up on that and didn’t ask.

In short, Luz had begun to show up quite often.

Not that that was a problem per se, no, in fact, she was all too happy to see the peculiar wanderer whenever she appeared.

The problem was she was much too happy to see her every time.

Her heartbeat much too fast whenever the energetic woman was around and she was around quite often these days. Just about every day now, which made Amity wonder where Luz went at night only to pop back up first thing in the morning, but she doesn’t think too hard about it, she was just happy to see her, and she’s not sure if it’s her seeing what she wants to see, but Luz seemed just as glad be in her presence as well.

The jarl sighed to herself as she sat back in her chair at the head of the mead hall. She was supposed to be focusing on the feast they were having tonight and instead all she can think about is Luz, who had popped up yesterday morning to inform her that she wanted to take her somewhere special tomorrow when everything was done with. That made her heart race.

Where could Luz possibly want to take her and for what purpose? Maybe she really did feel the same as Amity? The thought made her mouth go dry.

“Amity!”

The jarl jumped, turning to look at her head advisor, looking at her exasperatedly, and her right-hand warrior, Viney, snickering at her.

“Sorry, I was lost in thought…,” she apologized, cheeks flushed.

“About what, we all wonder…” Viney grinned at her and Amity’s flush only darkened.

“If you could stop thinking about Luz for a moment so we can go over a few details with you…?” Willow sighed and Amity nodded, still flushed. She gave her opinions on the last few things that needed to be done before tonight and Viney left to make sure her orders were delivered and followed.

Amity glanced at Willow, still standing there looking sour.

“Why do you dislike Luz?” she asked after a long moment, drawing the herbalist's gaze.

Willow blinked, looking down at her and frowned.

“I don’t dislike her. Luz is very kind and funny, a delight to be around, and I enjoy her company very much,” Willow said, but Amity could see the ‘but’ coming, and it did. “But, something isn’t right about her.”

“What do you mean?” Amity asked, she knew Luz could be a little strange, eccentric really, but that was one of the things Amity liked about her. She was different, always unapologetically herself, and that was something Amity admired greatly; her propensity to be who she was.

“Just… something about her is off…,” she trailed off and Amity is still looking at her questioningly.

“For instance?” the jarl gestured.

“Well, it’s the dead of winter and she runs around in light summer clothes and she never seems to be cold,” Willow said.

“She has five siblings, I think they're having a lean winter, and she’s probably just used to it at this point.” Amity shrugged.

“How about last week when she got kicked clear across the field by that horse and was totally fine, not a scratch on her, she didn’t even bruise…” Willow crossed her arms and leveled Amity with a look as though asking her to explain that one.

“I don’t know, she has a very hardy constitution?” Amity threw up a hand and Willow gave her a long look. “What’s your explanation for it then?” she demanded.

"I don't know, I didn't say I had an explanation for it, I said it was strange." She frowned.

"So she's a little strange. I…," Amity trailed off and Willow is giving her a look that she knows all too well.

"I know how you feel about her," Willow smirked. "She's great, really, it's just… something feels off, I just can't put my finger on it," She hummed to herself and Amity frowned. She trusted Willow and her instincts but she just couldn't get behind them this time. She'd already known Luz was a little odd, she was still very fond of her though.

"Well, if you figure it out, let me know," Amity smirked and she stood from her chair. "I'm going to go prepare for the feast." She walked out of the hall back toward her home. She couldn’t care less about the feast right now, she just wanted to see Luz.

~ ~

Luz was practically vibrating with energy, good and bad. She'd never done this before, what if Amity didn't want her?

What would she do then? Go home to Asgard and cry about it, she guessed.

She frowned, that voice in her head sounded suspiciously like her brother’s and she shook her head to clear it.

No, there was no negativity here! She was going to make her intent to Amity clear and hope for the best, that really was all she could do.

She played with the flowers in her hand as she walked up the hill toward Boneshaven. She loved Eda, even though she was a mortal, she always got along quite well with her, and she seemed to understand, but Eda was also quite eccentric, even more so than Luz herself. Some of her ideas about courting the warrior had seemed a little far-fetched and if the way Lilith had been shaking her head and rubbing her temples was in the indication, they were.

She got along with the elder of the two oracles well enough, she reminded Luz of her father. Strict, commanding, and of few words, that being said, Lilith seemed to have a better grip on actual mortal, courting traditions. So she'd gone home and picked a few flowers from her mother's garden while she was out, she’d never need to know and she wouldn't mind if she helped herself to a few for this worthy cause. They were a dark magenta color with golden centers and little dark, almost black, vein-like lines running through the pedals

They reminded her of Amity.

"Okay, you are the god of light, you can do this!" She hyped herself up as she nodded to herself as she walked into the village.

Several villagers waved at her as she passed, having become familiar with her over the past month and a half she had started appearing in the village at the jarls side. The children especially were eager to greet her as soon as they saw her. She grinned at them, inviting them to walk with her,

They asked her rapid questions about where she was going and where she had come from and Luz answered them to the best of her ability as they followed along at her side while she made her way to Amity's home before she had to shoo them away, she loved playing with the village kids, but not today. Today she had something important to do.

It was early morning, the sun had only just come up, but the place she wished to take Amity was a couple of hours journey away by foot, so they needed to leave as soon as possible if they wanted to have the sun on the way back. Luz cursed the short winter days for stealing her time with the mortal, something she had never been in short supply of before.

Just as she was walking up to the longhouse door, it opened, and Willow stepped out, followed by Amity.

"Luz, you're here already!" The jarl blinked at her in surprise, while Willow gave her a long look she could not begin to decipher. She liked the village herbalist and they got along well, Luz would consider her a friend at this point, but as of the last week or so she seemed to have grown more suspicious of the god, giving her long, unreadable looks. Something for her to worry about later though, right now, she had a plan that she fully intended to follow through with.

"I am," she smiled brightly at Amity, who returned the smile back. "I, uh… these are for you!" She suddenly held the flowers out to the jarl, who jerked back in surprise as the flowers were nearly thrust into her face.

She blinked down are the pristine, magenta flowers tied with a simple cord at the stems.

"Oh, they're beautiful, Luz." The warrior smiled as she took them and held them up to her nose and took a gentle sniff. They smelled sweet, like nothing Amity had ever smelt before, turning her eyes back on the tall wanderer in front of her. "What are they for?" She tilted her head in question. Luz shrugged.

"No purpose, I saw them and they made me think of you, so I hoped you might enjoy them too is all…," she trailed off, scratching the back of her head. Her cheeks heated up when she noticed the adoring way the jarl was looking at her as they locked eyes. If Luz didn't know better she would think Amity of some divine blood, the way her golden eyes seem to shine at times. She could stare into them forever, but Willow, clearing her throat broke the moment.

"So, where are the two of you headed?" she asked as she looked between the two of them, both of them bearing the same smitten expression.

"Ah, it's a secret!" Luz grinned, quite pleased with herself on the location she had chosen. A place from her childhood she had all but forgotten about until recently.

Willow hummed and it sounded almost suspicious, but Amity gave her a reproachful look and she stopped.

“It’s a couple of hours' journey on foot so I thought we best leave soon as possible,” Luz informed her and Amity nodded, smiling at her.

“I’ll put these inside and then we can be off.” She turned and walked back inside with the flowers.

“Everything okay?” Luz turned to Willow. The herbalist gave the innocent-faced woman a long look and sighed.

Maybe Amity was right, maybe Luz was just a little strange and she was looking too much into something that didn’t exist. She uncrossed her arms and smiled at the taller woman.

“Everything’s fine,” she assured. “So, this place you’re taking Amity, it’s special?”

“Very!” Luz grinned brightly, bouncing on her toes. “It’s a place from my childhood, one of the few places in all the world I feel truly at peace, and I hope she likes it too…,” Luz trailed off, suddenly unsure of this plan now that she’d said it out loud; sort of.

Willow seemed to catch onto Luz’s sudden doubt.

“I’m sure wherever you take her she’ll love.” Willow smiled and Luz perked up at that.

“Thanks, I hope so.” She shifted from foot to foot.

Amity chose that moment to return from inside.

“Are we ready?” she asked.

“Yup!” she turned back toward the front of the village. “Let’s head -” Before she could finish whatever she was going to say she spotted a familiar head of red braided hair strutting through the village, and she made a choking sound that made both Amity and Willow look to see what she saw.

“Who is that?” Amity narrowed her eyes at the unfamiliar woman in the dark brown burs and crimson cloak wandering through her village with a large Warhammer hanging from her waist, but by the look on Luz’s face, she knew her.

“Ugh,…my sister…,” she mumbled.

“Your sister?” the other two women asked at once.

“What is she doing here?” Luz mumbled to herself before taking off down the hill toward Boscha, who was peering around, looking bored, until her eyes landed on Luz, running up to her.

“There's my favorite little sister!” she grinned as she watched a scowl pass over Luz’s face.

“What are you doing here?!” she demanded without preamble.

“No, ‘hello, what are you doing here’?” Boscha teased with a wicked grin. “I admit, after all your whining and crying I was interested in meeting this mortal that has you all in a tizzy,” she hummed, looking around the village. “Where is she?”

“No, please, not today, I’m about to take her somewhere…,” Luz begged.

“I’ll be quick…” Boscha looked up to see two women making a beeline straight for them and smirked. No doubt the taller one with the facial scars was exactly who she was looking for. Luz glanced over her shoulder to see what her sister was looking at and frowned.

“Please, please don’t let them know we’re gods!” she hissed quietly, grabbing hold of her sister’s furs as she pleaded. Boscha glanced down at Luz’s desperate face and sighed, rolling her eyes.

“Fine, fine.” She pushed the younger god off her as Amity and Willow approached.

“Amity, Willow, this is my elder sister, Boscha” she introduced.

“Willow of Boneshaven.” The herbalist nodded. She already had a weird feeling about the tall redheaded woman in front of her, the same feeling she had with Luz.

“Amity, Jarl of Boneshaven.” Amity crossed her arms over her chest, eyes locked with the redheads, which was easier said than done as the redhead towered over her by at least a foot. Was everyone in Luz's family ridiculously tall?

The air was tense as the two warriors stared each other down before Boscha broke out into a wide grin.

"So you're the jarl my little sister can't shut up about," she declared and Luz flushed red, as did Amity.

Luz groaned internally at her. Maybe it would have been better to let her reveal their divinity and not her feelings for her.

Willow snickered at the two and Amity frowned.

"I had to come to see for myself, the infamous Jarl of Boneshaven, a warrior championing the god of light." Boscha crossed her arms over her chest and Amity's eyes landed on the pendant hanging around her neck. Heavy looking gold engraved with the symbol Mjolnir. An adherent of Thor obviously, though the pin that held her cloak closed was the tri-horns of Odin, much like Luz's. It was more than normal for people to worship or pray to all the gods, but usually, one only wore the symbol of their patron. It struck her as odd that the redhead was wearing the symbol of Thor and Odin, but not unheard of and she quickly dismissed it.

"Well, you've seen me, but you've come at a bad time, Luz and I were just about to head out," she explained.

"Not the most hospitable village is it?" Boscha hummed, looking at her sister, who frowned at her, clearly disapproving. Amity scowled at the woman.

Where were her siblings when she needed them? They could entertain the aggravating redhead for her.

"If you want hospitality, try the mead hall, I'll show you where it is, " Willow offered, which made Amity look at her with wide eyes. Willow met it and gave her a look that clearly said 'get out of here'.

Amity smiled at her gratefully and nodded as she turned back to Boscha.

"You can stay and enjoy drink to your heart's content until we return," she said, and Luz made a face while the redhead just grinned.

"You may regret that offer, jarl. No one can drink as much as me back home." She puffed out her chest, and much to both gods' surprise, Amity just laughed.

"If we can keep enough mead to quench Willow's thirst, I'm sure you'll be no problem," The jarl chuckled and Luz blinked. She wasn't sure, actually, she knew, Amity didn't know what she was getting herself into with such comments.

Boscha barked a laugh back.

"Her?" She hooked a thumb at the shorter, dark-haired woman. "Don't make me laugh."

"When did this become a competition…" Willow started, but no one was listening to her.

"They don't call her ‘Willow the bottomless’ for no reason," Amity asserted, brows pulled low over her eyes as she looked up at the other warrior.

"Well let's find out then!" Boscha grinned. "I challenge you to a contest of drink, the last one standing wins!" She announced pointing at the herbalist who sighed, rubbing her temple.

She needed a drink now anyway.

"I accept," She defeatedly mumbled. "This way." She turned to head in the direction of the mead hall and started off, Boscha stomping along behind her.

Luz sighed to herself. Her sister just couldn't help herself. They may have gotten the name wrong, but a fiery redhead, with more temper than sense? The mortals had been spot on in that aspect of the god of storms and strength.

"That is a bad idea…" Luz frowned as she watched them walk away. "Willow might be in trouble there…," she trailed off as Amity snorted

"Don't worry about Willow, trust me," Amity said, and Luz pursed her lips. There was no way to explain that her sister was a god and had an insurmountable capacity for alcohol, but she was sure Willow would be okay.

"Well, she's distracted, shall we go?" Amity asked, turning her full attention back to her and when those golden amber eyes landed on her, she forgot all about her sister.

"Yeah, follow me!" She grinned as they walked quickly toward the edge of the village while Boscha followed Willow into the mead hall.

It was fairly empty since the sun had only just now come up, but there were still a number of villagers gathered around drinking out of wooden flagons.

The god flopped herself down on a bench and Willow set herself in the place down across from her and signaled to one of the serving girls.

“Two flagons and keep them coming,” she instructed. The girl nodded and took off.

“So, you’re like the jarls right hand, yeah?” Boscha asked and the woman nodded.

"Maybe you know the answer to this question then. Why the god of light?" Boscha cocked her head. Luz wasn't the only one in Asgard who was curious. Amity had been making waves. She was winning battles left and right over the last two years and converting people to choosing Luz as their main god. it had taken her sister about a year to realize her power had started growing but the older more experienced among the Aesir had noticed right away.

The summer sun had been hotter and stronger that summer and the lights in the sky had shown brighter than ever as Luz's power grew.

The god of light herself hadn't noticed until a little sparring match with Hooty, in which a well-placed punch had sent their brother flying across the room, much to everyone's surprise, including Luz's. Hooty was just plain delighted.

It was after that she had begun to look into it in earnest and found out that a mortal warrior had chosen her as their patron, though she still had no idea why apparently.

"No idea." Willow shrugged and Boscha frowned. The herbalist could tell that her answer was not satisfactory for the redhead. "People have been asking that for two years and still Amity won't say. Not to me, not her siblings, no one."

Boscha scoffed, annoyed. A tight-lipped warrior? That was a rarity as well.

Two flagons we're sat down in front of them and the god of storms wasted no time grabbing hers and tipping it back, downing it in a handful of seconds. She slammed it back on the table with a sigh in time to see Willow wiping her mouth, flagon already empty.

The first one always went down quickly for most people, nothing unusual about that. Two more were set on the table, and they drank.

Then it was three and six, and twelve, and twenty, and before she knew it she couldn't even keep count anymore and the room was spinning as another full flagon of mead was sat down in front of them. Willow looked as pristine as when they had started. While Boscha swayed on the bench as she watched the herbalist suck down the full cup and set it back on the table looking back at her in silent challenge.

Boscha looked at the brown liquid in her cup as she slowly started to lift it to her lips, but then she can't control her muscles anymore and the cup dropped back to the table, a few drops sloshing out as she fell backward off the bench onto the floor, armor, and hammer making a loud clattering sound as she groaned.

Willow stood, grabbed the gods cup, and emptied it in a long single drink before slamming it back down on the table.

"Come on, I'll show you my garden, I need to cover the plants before it starts to storm anyway," she said as she walked toward the large wooden doors.

Boscha blinked, watching the woman strut away without a single look back or with nary a stagger to her step from the dirty hall floor

"I have to make her mine…," she slurred.

~ ~  
The snow crunched under their feet as they walked along the path that led northward, toward the mountains. Luckily it wasn't snowing, or bitterly cold winds today, or this would be a miserable trek, which was the last thing Luz wanted it to be. She wanted an enjoyable day with Amity, talking, and just enjoying each other's company before they got to their destination.

So far, it had been just that. Though she did have to answer some questions about her siblings as they walked, which after Boscha had shown up unannounced, she understood.

"And which one was that?" Amity asked as they walked.

"Boscha, she's the second oldest. Hooty is the oldest and after Boscha it's Gus, King, and me." She ticked off her siblings on her fingers.

"So, you're the baby?" Amity teased, nudging her with her elbow as they walked side by side. "That makes sense." She smiled teasingly and Luz can feel her cheeks pink.

"You're also the baby among your siblings!" Luz teased her back with a nudge of her own.

"My siblings are only two years older, how old is… Hooty, was it?" Amity asked.

"Uhh…. thirty-five?" Luz threw out a number that sounded good. Hooty could pass as a thirty-five-year-old mortal if he had to, not that Luz ever intended to let him and Amity meet.

That would be a disaster of epic proportions she thinks.

They spend the time talking and laughing and it doesn't take long before they had arrived at their destination, according to Luz that is.

They're standing in the middle of the forest, one Amity has heard of but never been to. It was said to be sacred to the goddess Freyja. She'd never been this far north actually before she lived in Boneshaven, Amity had come from the East.

"Just a little farther!" Luz said and she jogged forward kicking up the snow behind her. Amity chuckled, moving to the side to avoid the kickback.

"Are you going to tell me where we're going now?" She smiled at Luz as she turned to look at her, running backward through the snow.

"Nope!" She singsonged. "I'm going to show you, just a little bit far- whoop!" whatever she was going to say is cut off as she tripped backward into the snow with a grunt and a thump.

"Are you okay?" Amity called jogging forward.

"Fine, fine!" she laughed as Amity looked down at her, exasperated, and offered her a hand. She took it and her heart fluttered in her chest as Amity hauled her effortlessly out of the snow.

"It's a wonder you haven't gotten yourself killed yet," she said, rolling her eyes.

"A mystery," Luz agreed, chuckling and scratching the back of her head sheepishly as Amity brushed the snow off her shoulders.

Luz wouldn't lie, she quite enjoyed the contact. Something she had never even thought about before now; most of the gods were the solitary type.

Amity realized what she was doing after a moment and snatched her hands back, leaving Luz blinking at her owlishly, and her face turned red.

"W-well, where is it?" she mumbled, clearing her throat.

"Oh, right, this way!" They hurried along through the forest, Luz darting ahead of her through the trees until she disappeared somewhere in front of her through the thick foliage.

"Luz?" Amity called, stopping to look around the field of white and trees that went on forever in every direction it seemed. "Luz?!" she shouted, breath coming out in a cloud when no answer came.

"Over here!" Echoed off the trees and Amity followed the voice until she was breaking through a thick line of shrubbery.

She stopped cold, staring up in awe at the sight in front of her.

A massive tree, twelve men linked hand in hand still wouldn't be able to reach each other around the circumference of its trunk, with its dark, cherry red wood, and leaves of the brightest pink Amity had ever seen in nature. It's branches stuck out in every direction, reaching skyward, creating a thick canopy that blocked out all sunlight from filtering to the ground below.

Perhaps even more awe-inspiring then that though, was that the tree seemed to be growing atop a large outcropping of rocks, its thick roots, that even if she put her arms around, Amity still wouldn't be able to touch her hands together, slithered this way and that over the craggy surface before dipping into the ground at the bottom, or smashed somewhere between the stones, disappearing from sight.

Directly in front of her, the roots seem to part, forming a sort of entrance around a deep opening in the rock, a cave. A cave with a large tree growing over it.

The entire place has a strange, calming feeling, almost tranquil. She feels calm staring up at its gently rustling leaves the same shade as the setting of the evening sun.

"What do you think?" Luz's voice broke her from her silent stupor as she came to stand at her side.

"It's beautiful," she said breathlessly, unable to pull her eyes away from the marvel of nature before her.

"I haven't even shown you the best part yet." Luz smiled knowingly at her. "Wait till we get in the cave." She grinned and Amity froze.

"The cave?" she repeated, unsteady.

"Yeah, what I want to show you is inside."

"I don't know about this, Luz." Amity frowned, crossing her arms. A twinge of fear creeping up her spine that she tried to push away. "What will we even be able to see in the dark of a cave?" She frowned and Luz blinked at her.

"It's a surprise, and we came all this way, I really want to show you this place…," she said quietly. She hesitated a moment before reaching up to rest a hand on the small of Amity's back. "Trust me." She smiled and Amity can feel the warmth of her hand on her back even though her layers of clothes.

That was something that always puzzled her about Luz, it was the dead of winter and she wasn't wearing near enough clothes, but she always gave off such incredible warmth.

She can't help the adoring look she knows is on her face as she gazed up at Luz.

"Alright…," she mumbled and Luz lit up. "So long as I can take a torch," she said and Luz frowned for a second before nodding, and she spent a few minutes looking for a sufficient branch to turn into a torch with the flint she kept in one of her pouches.

When the fire was burning, Luz led them, through the roots and down into the cave.

She didn't expect it to be as big as it was, but the tunnel only continued to move downward at an angle. An easy one to walk, but they're obviously traveling deeper and deeper into the earth.

Eventually, they cannot even see the sunlight anymore, and all that lights their way is Amity's torch.

Fear has started to crawl, thick and weighty in her throat and the pit of her stomach.

The darkness pressed upon her from every direction, and it's all she can do to keep her breath steady and calm, lest she ruin Luz's surprise by losing control of herself.

Eventually, the ground leveled out to be near completely flat and she can tell by the sound of their steps on the stone and the way it echoes, that they're in a large chamber. It's warm too, warmer than it is above ground anyway.

"Okay, come over here!" Luz beckoned, walking in front of her.

Then there is a bright shimmer of fire on the ground?

A reflection.

Water.

She held the torch up and tried to get a good look, but it only pierced so far into the inky blackness.

She can see the reflection of her torch bouncing off the dark waters in front of her, see it stretch a decent length out into the darkness.

"An underground lake?" Amity questioned aloud, but quickly regretted it, it almost felt wrong to speak in this place, like she was disturbing it.

"Yeah, the roots from the tree reach down here, so no matter the season, there's always water for it, but that's not the best part!" She can hear the giddy joy in Luz's voice and it's just as apparent on her face when Amity turned to look at her. The fire flickered off the planes of her cheeks and jaw, creating a sharp line of shadows across her face.

It certainly isn't an unattractive look.

She was too busy staring at the other woman's face that she missed what she said.

"I'm sorry, what?" She asked and Luz only smiled.

"Come here." She jerked her head and Amity followed her to the water's edge where she knelt down. Amity followed suit. "Now put out the torch..."

"What?!" Amity yelped and Luz blinked. She can see the panic in Amity's face at her words, but she can't for the life of her understand why.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Luz scooted closer, their knees brushing against each other. They are close enough that they can feel the other's body heat drifting off them.

"Nothing, nothing is wrong!" Amity managed to get out, but she can see it in her face that Luz does not believe her for one moment. "I just don't know why we need to put out the torch…," she said, and cursed the crack in her voice as she did so, her eyes turned toward the ground so she wouldn't have to look at her companion.

"Because we won't be able to see what I brought you here to see if we don't…, Amity… what's wrong?" she asked again, and Amity chewed painfully on her bottom lip.

"I…," she started. She glanced up at Luz, whose brown eyes were full of concern and worry, which made her stomach flip.

"I'm afraid of the dark…," she spat out, and how she hated to admit it out loud, but she didn't know what else she could possibly say to explain her reluctance to put out the torch to Luz.

She'd charged into battle with nary a thought of her own mortality, killed men three times her size and age, but the dark?

The dark terrified Amity, ripped at every insecurity and fear that had ever lurked beneath her skin.

She waited a long moment to see what Luz would say.

"Is that why you chose Baldur as your patron god?" she finally asked, quietly.

Could it really be something so simple? Then again, Amity had said that the god of light had saved her life, so that didn't add up.

"No," Amity laughed mirthlessly. "That's not why…," she trailed off and they sat there for a few moments not saying anything, and Luz knew she wasn't going to further explain herself.

"If we don't put out the torch this trip will have been for nothing…," Luz said quietly and Amity winced at that.

"I can't…," she whispered. "I'm… I'm not brave enough…," she mumbled, and her eyes sting, but she absolutely refuseed to let tears fall. It was bad enough this woman, who's opinion she sought highly, had to bear witness to this, to know her secret, she'd be damned to the shores of Hel before she also cried in front of her while quivering at the idea of the dark.

Luz hummed to herself, rubbing her fingers together thoughtfully before she scooted even closer, what little space left between them vanished as she pressed against Amity, and her cheeks heated up at their proximity, but she pushed that aside, and slowly, to allow Amity to stop her if she so desired, wrapped her arm around the jarls waist, gently holding her close. The only sound in the cavern is the crackling and popping of the torch.

Amity looked up at her, surprised at the sudden proximity and the incredible warmth radiating off Luz, who is close enough that she can feel her every breath with the rise and fall of her chest.

"I know you're scared," Luz started quietly, breaking the silence, and Amity whipped her head away, embarrassed to look at her. "It's okay, everyone is sometimes," she said. "But nothing's going to happen to you, Amity, I wouldn't let it, I swear." She gently squeezed her closer. "I need you to trust me," she mumbled, her breath ghosted over the shell of Amity's ear.

Amity's whole face is flushed, and her palms are sweaty as her tender feelings for Luz fight with her all-encompassing fear of the dark.

She swallowed thickly and hesitated.

"If this is too much we can go," Luz finally said. She wasn't going to pretend she understood the fear of the dark. She was a god of light, and her twin brother was the darkness, but she could see the distress Amity was in and could feel the soft trembling of her body against her frame. She couldn't stand that for another minute.

"It was still a nice walk coming up here, and you did get to see the tree." She tried very hard to keep the disappointment out of her voice, she didn't want to make Amity feel bad for being scared.

Amity hears it anyway and cursed herself for this cowardice that had lingered for years now.

"Come on, Amity. Let's head back to the village," she soothed, running her hand up and down the jarl's back.

Amity squeezed her hand so tightly in a fist that she could feel her nails biting into the skin of her palm.

"No, let's do it… I trust you." Her voice trembled as she prepared herself.

"I know you do, but you don't have to do this…," she started, but before she could stop her, Amity plunged the torch into the water and the light went out, casting them in total, pitch darkness.

She can feel the warrior trembling harder and harder by the second and Luz gave up any pretense of space and squeezed herself closer, pulling Amity flush against her, hoping to stem the fear.

It helped, some.

Luz's warm body wrapped comfortingly around hers from nearly all sides made the dark feel not as crushing, but it can't take it away completely. Her breath started to come in quick bursts and she felt like she wasn’t getting any air.

"It's okay, it's okay…," Luz tried to soothe the rising panic she could feel in Amity. They don't have the torch now, if Amity can't get herself under control Luz will have to create light, and as much as she didn’t wish to reveal herself yet, she won't let Amity suffer needlessly either.

It feels like an eternity, but is in reality, probably about thirty seconds before a faint, light, blue glow began to illuminate the darkness.

"Look Amity," Luz whispered in her ear, prompting her to open her eyes, and she can see it.

From within the water a faint blue glow was growing stronger, and stronger until the entire cavern was awash in bright cyan light that made Amity gasp.

The lake is full of crystals. Some large as a man and some small enough to fit in the palm of her hand. She can see them below the surface as they admit a bright incandescent light that filled the cavern, allowing her to look at the smooth stone walls carved with runes and the thin wisps of roots that snake down from the ceiling above to touch the water below.

Amity's mouth hung open in silent wonder.

Her fear had receded with the glow of the lights and she was left in absolute, breathless awe at what lay before her. A perfectly placid lake, aglow with an ethereal blue light emitting from the hundreds of crystals sitting below the water’s surface.

Amity had no words, and neither one of them said anything for a long while.

But eventually, Luz cannot help herself.

"What do you think?" Her voice is barely above a whisper in the jarl's ear and her warm breath caused a shiver to run up her spine

She swallowed thickly and turned her head, and they’re so close their noses brush, which sets Luz's heart to thundering in her chest and Amity seemed to feel much the same.

"It's beautiful…," she mumbled. "I never knew such a place existed… how did you?" she asked.

"I was born here," is the simple answer.

"What!?" Amity winced as her voice came out much louder than she had intended it to, but Luz just smiled softly at her, which made her insides tremble. "You were born here?" she repeated, much quieter and Luz nodded.

"The way I've always been told is, my mother took shelter here one night during a dark storm and went into labor and well...I was born," she chuckled. “I always feel most at peace here,” she said fondly. “This place is… special to me… and I wanted to show it to you…,” she trailed off, cheeks hot, and in the blue glow that saturates everything, including them, Amity can see it, and is hit with a sudden realization so strong it almost took her breath away.

Luz waited for her to say something, but she didn’t, instead, her face inched closer, and again her nose brushed Luz’s, whose heart was now in her throat when she realized what was happening as she could feel Amity’s breath on her face. She got ahead of herself, and jolted forward, her forehead smashing against Amity’s, and the jarl hissed between her clenched teeth painfully.

“Sorry! Sorry, I’m sorry, Amity!” Luz rushed to apologize, and she’s so embarrassed. If she weren't invulnerable she would surely die. Her face is so red it’s probably glowing like the crystals.

Amity quickly blinked away the pain and could see the near painful embarrassment on Luz’s face and couldn't help the breath of a laugh that escaped her lips unbidden as she reached up to wrap a hand around Luz’s face, fingers splayed down the side of her neck and thumb resting on her cheek. The cool digits on her skin made Luz shiver.

“Not so hard,” She mumbled, a hint of amusement clear in her voice before slotting her mouth gently across Luz’s, and the god’s eyes closed the second she felt the warm, chapped lips on hers.

The god of light made a low noise in the back of her throat, and can’t help but squeeze Amity all the closer as the jarls lips move slowly against hers. It’s quiet in the cavern, only their breath to fill the silence, but in her chest, Luz’s heart is hammering so fast she’s afraid it might break free.

She curled her fingers into Amity’s fur cloak as she kissed her back, pulling her closer

This is all new to her, she has no idea if she was even doing it right, but Amity made a quiet humming sound as she tilted her head that she was sure meant she was.

Finally, someone, she’s not sure who, pulled back and their eyes opened.

Luz can’t help herself though, and leaned back in, pressing her own kiss to the warriors’ mouth and Amity makes a noise almost akin to a giddy little giggle but doesn’t stop her. She pulled back after a moment but they didn't go very far, foreheads still brushing as gold and brown lock together.

“So…,” Luz started uncertainly, and Amity is smiling at her in a way that makes her palms sweat. “I guess... you do feel the same way I do… right?” she asked and Amity did laugh this time, low and quiet, but laughed all the same as her breath ghosted over Luz’s face. They’re still huddled together, Luz still wrapped around her.

“Yes, Luz,” she nodded. “I… am very fond of you…,” she said quietly. An understatement for the rush of tender affection she feels in the wanderer’s presence on a normal day, right now, it feels overwhelming.

“Me too,… you, I mean, I really like you, that is…” Luz mentally slapped herself, but Amity only laughed again, low and breathy and it sent chills rippling across Luz's spine.

“I’m glad,” she mumbled before she pressed another kiss to Luz’s mouth.

They stay there a long while.


	5. Chapter 5

One nice thing about being divine is that her body processed alcohol much, much quicker than a mortal, though whereas a mortal would be drunk the rest of the day, Boscha is only due to remain shit faced for two hours, at best. Thus why drinking was done in such copious amounts in Valhalla. 

In her hazy state, she can't remember the last time she got blasted in Midgard. Probably because she had been absolutely forbidden from doing so by her father after a little incident that ended up burning down three villages and starting a war that had Hooty driving them all insane for two years while it raged. She wasn't allowed to get drunk anywhere but Asgard after that.

She just wouldn't mention this to anyone.

Boscha followed the herbalist on shaky legs as they trailed away from the mead hall. Everything was still a little fuzzy, but she kept her eyes trained on the herbalist walking ahead of her, lest she wander off and get lost on top of being drunk. They passed several villagers, who gave the staggering redhead a wide breadth as they made their way to Willow’s home as she fumbled around, hammer swinging haphazardly from her waist. 

They rounded the corner to a small home with a large fenced-in area filled with lush green plants and flowers.

Willow quickly walked through the gate and knelt next to the plants in the snow. 

"What are these?" Boscha grumbled as she wobbled over and leaned down over the fence to look at the green sprouts popping up out of the snow.

"They're herbs, I grow the herbs and plants the village uses to pack wounds and cure ailments, among other things. If I don't get these covered up before the storm comes we'll be in trouble for the rest of the winter," Willow mumbled, only half paying attention to the drunken warrior. She had more important things to do than entertain Luz’s sister, though she was doing it only as a favor to Amity since the jarl was so hopelessly smitten with the wanderer. Hopefully, while they were somewhere off all alone they would actually finally do something besides dance around each other as she had been watching them do for weeks. 

She quickly went about tending to the plants. Their soft leaves brushing over her fingers as she picked at any dead leaves, harmful bugs, or dangerous weeds.

Plants were so simple, they asked very little of you and gave so much back, so long as you answered those few demands.

Boscha watched the herbalist touch the plants tenderly, and with obvious great care. She glanced up, and sure enough, roiling dark clouds were beginning to cover the village in their shadows. She could feel it, sleet and snow brewing overhead. She was the god of storms, after all, she could look at a cloud and tell you what it was going to do from the time it formed to the time it disappeared.

She knew these were going to be heavy, they would do major damage to any kind of plant, covered or not, the ice was brewing up above, she could feel it in her blood, cold and sharp.

"Even if you cover these it won't help," she mumbled more to herself than anything, but Willow looked up at her. She was staring up at the sky with a contemplative look on her face. "It's going to hail, hard. Unless you build a stone roof over these they're doomed," she grumbled.

"Oh, are you an Auger?" The herbalist chuckled at the drunken warrior.

"No, I'm the god of storms!" She drunkenly declared hands on her hips and chest puffed out.

Usually, in her experience, this was where the groveling and throwing themselves at her came in, instead, the woman laughed instead.

"I think you drank way too much, you've gone a little soft in the head, I'll have to apologize to Luz," Willow laughed and Boscha scowled at her. 

The storm clouds overhead began to rumble and tremble with thunder, turning darker by the minute at the storm god's darkening mood.

Willow looked up at them and frowned. The clouds were just about to open up and pour down it seemed, she didn't have time to cover them now. Panic filled Willow. If she didn't save these plants they were in for a hard remaining month and a half of winter with no medicines.

"Shit…, I wasted too much time with you!” she growled to herself. "What am I going to do now?" She worried about her bottom lip between her teeth as she stared up at the sky

Boscha scoffed at that.

"It's just some plants," she grumbled.

Willow pun on her heel to face the drunken warrior, scowling.

"Listen to me you drunken, lout!" she snapped, stalking forward till the two were nose to nose. "We can't all just smash things to death to get by. The people of Boneshaven need my plants so we can survive the winter, I have a responsibility which I take seriously!" 

The redhead's eyes narrowed at her for a long moment as they stood nose to nose and thunder boomed overhead before her hand shot to the handle of her hammer and almost so fast Willow couldn't see, thrust her arm upward.

She had to cover her face with her arms as lightning shot up toward the sky from the ground in a loud thundering burst of light and sound, the ground shaking beneath her feet.

As quickly as it had started it was over, and the next time Willow opened her eyes, blinking them against the spots that still flashed behind her eyelids, the clouds were gone, as if they had never been there before, leaving the sky a bright, brilliant blue and sunlight filtering down.

"There, happy?" the redhead grumbled with a slur, crossing her arms as the faintest wisps of lightning clung to her form, crackling along her arms, and her eyes glowed a faint white.

Willow blinked at her, eyes wide.

~ ~   
Amity hummed happily to herself as she watched the gentle glowing of the crystals from inside the lake, trying not to smile too stupidly to herself as Luz’s fingers threaded with hers and indescribable warmth buzzed inside her. 

The water was crystal clear and she could see straight to the bottom, where a large cluster of crystals sat, emitting a bright light.

"This place is so beautiful…," she mumbled and felt Luz's fingers squeeze hers and she smiled dopily.

"I'm glad you like it. I forgot about this place until recently, I haven't been here in a long time," Luz said quietly as she leaned back on one arm while the other hung loosely at her side, fingers entwined with Amity's. She couldn't believe she was sitting here holding the warrior's hand, warmth radiating from her cheeks. She was so happy she could feel herself trying to glow with sheer joy, literally. She caught a glimpse of herself in the water and saw the dim glowing of her eyes that signaled her powers rising to the surface.

All the Aesir shared this trait. When their powers bubbled up to the surface their eyes would reflect that. She shoved them back down and the faint glowing ceased. Luz dipped her fingers in the water, causing little ripples to move across the glass-like surface. Beside her Amity made a breathy little noise of wonder that made Luz smile and turn to her, she’s gazing into the water with unbridled wonder and awe and it makes Luz’s heart flutter with delight that she could create such a look.

Amity reached her hand out, hovering over the water, hesitating. It feels like it would be wrong to touch it. Like there's almost something sacred about this place, she can feel a strange weightiness about it; a prevalent pressure with every movement. 

“It's okay,” Luz said. “You can touch it,” she encouraged. This place was intrinsically linked to her, the crystals of pure light had formed when she was born here. King had actually been born elsewhere, they were twins but they were days apart in birth, so this place was not touched by her brother’s darkness, it was a bastion of pure, unfiltered light

Amity hummed and carefully dipped a finger into the pool, causing another ripple but it also did something else this time. 

The second the warrior’s fingers touched the surface a bright glow emitted from the crystals below making them both jump.

“What was that?” Amity yelped, turning to Luz, whose eyes were just as wide as hers.

She’d never seen that happen before.

“I… don’t know… did it hurt?” she asked, quickly growing concerned, but Amity doesn't seem hurt. She squeezed the warrior’s hand worriedly.

“No!” Amity quickly rushed to assure her, shaking her head. “It didn’t hurt…,” she mumbled. Flexing the fingers of her left hand experimentally. It had surprised her more than anything. “It didn’t react when you touched it…,” she mumbled more to herself than anything, but Luz heard her.

She wasn’t sure what that meant. No one but herself and her mother had ever been here before, and she knew for sure she had seen her mother had touched the waters before, sometimes Luz bathed in it when she came here, so why did it have a reaction to Amity?

Amity slowly reached her fingers back down into the water and again, the crystals emitted a slightly brighter glow, but nothing else. Amity seemed equal parts curious and delighted by the phenomenon. 

Luz frowned, puzzled. The crystals were just chunks of her divine essence given physical form after her birth, why would they react to Amity, maybe because she was a mortal? Luz had never brought a mortal here before, or anyone actually, but the crystals had never reacted to her mother. 

“How strange…,” Amity mumbled, bringing Luz out of her thoughts. Amity was moving her fingers in and out of the water and every time her skin came into contact with the water the crystals glowed. “...I can’t help but wonder if this might be dangerous…” She stopped, holding her hand above the surface and glancing at Luz.

“Uh... probably not?” It was more a question than an answer and Amity frowned at her. “I mean… I dunno, I’m sure it’s fine!” 

Amity rolled her eyes but the smile that pulled at her lips betrayed her. 

“You’re ridiculous,” she huffed, fondness dripped from every word and Luz beamed brightly at her. 

“But you still like me, right?” she grinned, leaning forward and Amity snorted, turning her head away as the taller woman leaned in closer batting her eyes at her. “Right?” she nudged her and Amity couldn’t help but giggle and turn back to look at her.

“Right,” she agreed, closing the short distance to peck her lips, making Luz’s smile stretch even wider. 

Amity’s eyes glowed like embers in the crystal's light when she leaned back to gaze at her.

Luz hummed to herself and reached down, hand dipping into the water and broke a chunk of crystal off of the lake wall, and held the dimly glowing chunk out to Amity. 

“Here, you can take a little piece with you, a kind of… reminder of today,” she said, holding it out. 

“Are you sure…?” Amity hesitated but Luz only nodded, smiling at her and Amity could swear the women's brown eyes were glowing but dismissed it as the surrounding lights.

Amity’s calloused fingers brushed against her palm as her digits wrapped around the stone, and in her hand, it glowed brighter still. 

“Thank you…” 

They stayed there a while longer before they needed to leave if they wanted any light for their journey back, and knowing now of Amity’s fear of the dark, Luz decided that was best. 

The journey back is even more enjoyable than the trip to the cave, Amity’s fingers remain entwined with hers the entire time.

“I better go find my sister…,” Luz grumbled as she and Amity stood outside the jarl’s longhouse door as night began to fall around them.

“You’re certain you don’t want me to help you find her?” Amity asked.

“No, it’s fine. I’m going to grab her and take her home before anything ends up destroyed,” she chuckled and wished she was joking.

“Alright, if you’re sure…,” she hesitated, hovering in the doorway and Luz perked up a little, hoping she wanted the same thing she did, and took a half-step forward, closing some of the distance between them, and leaned down halfway, uncertain. They weren't alone anymore and though they were hardly in the middle of the village or anything, Amity might not want others to see them. 

Her fears were quickly dispelled when Amity moved forward, closing the remaining distance between them, and raised up on her toes to press another kiss to her mouth. 

“Good night, Luz,” she said as she stepped back, smiling up at her.

“Good night…” 

The door closed and all she can do is smile stupidly to herself as she turned and walked away, she feels amazing, better then she ever has, joy is bubbling over and if she let herself go, she knows her eyes would be able to light her way as she walked down the path from the jarl’s home toward Willow’s on the edge of the village.

Nothing could bring her down at this moment, not even her sister and her annoying tendency to butt her nose into Luz’s business. She probably should do something for the village herbalist. She knew from experience that her sister was a lot, the god of storms could be a lot. 

Things got destroyed. 

She shook her head as she rounded the corner to Willow’s door and knocked.

It was only a few seconds before the door opened and the herbalist herself appeared, silhouetted by the light of the fire inside. Luz smiled and held up a hand in greeting.

“Hey, Willow, is my sister here?”

She looked at Luz for a quick second before she frowned and her eyes narrowed dangerously.

“You!” she all but growled and immediately the smile fell from Luz’s face, eyes going wide as Willow reached out and grabbed her by the cloak and dragged her inside, slamming the door behind her.

Luz stumbled as she was dragged into the center of the room. She spotted her sister sitting on a chair by the wall and the second their eyes met she grimaced and looked away, ashamed.

“What do you want?” Willow was suddenly standing in front of her, shouting.

“Huh?” is all Luz can think to say, things are happening so quickly she has no idea what to say or do.

“You’re a god too, aren’t you, like her?” she motioned to Boscha sitting in the corner, who flinched at the accusation and even more so when Luz turned to her with wide eyes.

“What did you do!?” she turned fully to the god of storms, who winced.

“I got drunk, it was an accident!” she shouted back.

“Ugh!” Luz covered her face with her hands.

“You are, aren’t you, I knew there was something strange about you!” Willow is scowling at them. “What’s your game, what do you want with Amity?!” she demanded. “Whatever you’re trying to use her for, I swear I’ll…” She stepped forward almost threateningly and Luz’s face shifted to horror. 

“No, No!” Luz shook her hands. 

In the blink of an eye, Boscha is across the room, standing between Willow and Luz. 

“You’re awfully mouthy for a mortal, to speak to the god of light that way!” she snarled and Willow’s eyes widened.

“You’re the god of light, you’re Baldur?” she asked, eyes wide, and Luz groaned internally Why was her sister like this? 

“I am…,” she finally said. “I am the god of light joy and summer sun… but my name is Luz. Baldur is a name mortals came up with for me,” she finally was able to say. 

“What do you want with Amity, what’s your game?” she bit out with a growl and Luz flinched. Boscha seemed to bow up, but Luz gently pushed her out of the way from in between them, much to the god of storms' surprise, but Luz just gave her an uncharacteristically serious look that left Boscha’s mouth snapping closed. 

“I was just curious… why a warrior would choose me as their patron. It’s never happened before,” she finally explained. “I wanted to see what she was like…”

“That’s it, you wanted to see? You know she’s fond of you, don’t you? She's absolutely smitten, and you're just curious?!” Willow isn’t sure she’s ever been so furious as she is at this moment. “Or did you use some kind of power on her?”

“What?! No, no!” Luz rapidly shook her head and hands. “I didn’t do anything to her!” she promised. “And It started that way, but no, I like Amity too, a lot, I do!” she tried to tell the herbalist who still looks mad enough to spit. 

"Does she know you're a god?" Willow asked, still frowning, though she suspects she knows the answer already.

"No…," she reluctantly mumbled and Willow's frown deepened. "I wanted to get to know her… and knowing who I am would have changed how she saw me…I didn’t want worship or blind devotion,” she hurried to explain. 

Willow pursed her lips and glanced between the two deities for a long moment before sighing tiredly; she needed another drink.

“You need to tell her who you are…,” she grumbled at long last. 

“I will, I will!” she nodded her head. “Please don’t tell her. I need to be the one to tell her who I am...” Luz pleaded and Boscha snorted, making the younger god shoot her a dirty look. Willow glanced between the two before sighing tiredly

“Fine… I’ll let you tell her. It isn’t my place…,” the herbalist said. 

“Thank you…” Luz sid and Willow just nodded.

“Yeah, now, if you two don't mind…” She glanced at the door.

“Oh, right, yes. We’ll go.” Luz nodded and headed for the door after giving her sister a meaningful glance.” Boscha snorted and crossed her arms, but followed Luz as she disappeared into the darkness outside the door.

“Thank you.” 

Boscha paused in the doorway, glancing over her shoulder at the herbalist who was looking at her out of the corner of her eye.

“For stopping the storm,” she said, looking away. 

Boscha grunted in acknowledgment before leaving, shutting the door behind her and following after her sister, who said nothing until they are away from the village and walking through the trees, boots crunching in the snow.

“I asked one, one thing of you!” she suddenly growled, as they stomped through the woods and Boscha flinched at the younger god's tone. Luz rarely got mad, so getting snapped at by her always stung a bit.

“I got drunk… Flowers can put it away…,” she weakly defended and Luz stopped. 

“You lost the drinking contest?” her eyes widened and her mouth hung open.

“She’s tough…,” she mumbled, face contemplative, and Luz is giving her a long, strange look.

“Are you… are you interested in Willow?” she blinked and watched, fascinated as her sister's face darkened with a flush.

“Don’t be stupid,” she snorted, folding her arms over her chest and looking away. 

“Uhuh…,” Luz smirked and Bocha scowled, punching the younger god in the arm, but she only laughed. 

She couldn't feel pain after all.

They started walking again and it was as they crossed the Bifrost leading back to Asgard that Luz remembered something.

“Hey, I took Amity to the cave of light and when she touched the water, the crystals started to glow, that’s never happened before. What do you think it means?” She looked up at the taller redheaded god.

“Just her connection to you as your champion,” she said. “ The crystals are just bits of your power given physical form after all, so they react to her…,” she easily explained. Boscha had her share of mortal champions in the past, those endowed with the warrior gods favor, 

“That can’t be right... I haven't made her my champion…,” Luz said, eyebrows dipping down between her eyes. 

Boscha looked at her just as befuddled. 

“That’s… they should only react to someone connected to you, and if you haven’t made her your champion how could she be connected to you?” 

Luz hummed to herself, just as confused. 

“I don’t know…” she mumbled. “But I’m going to figure it out…” she said to herself.


	6. Chapter 6

It was a beautiful day in early spring when she arrived in the village, she almost immediately spotted her sister from the corner of her eye, her bright red hair a standout among the dull colors of the village. 

She hadn’t even seen Amity yet, which was usually her first priority but she had to see what the thunder god was doing. An unsupervised Boscha could mean such bad things.

She was hanging outside the herbalist’s house with a large barrel as Luz approached.

“What are you doing here?” Luz narrowed her eyes as she walked up to the redhead, who looked up, startled.

“I’m not here for you or your jarl, relax.” Boscha crossed her arms over her chest and huffed. Luz narrowed her eyes at her sister before glancing at the large barrel at the taller god’s side. Luz immediately recognized it as a barrel of Asgardian mead.

“You’re here for Willow, aren’t you?” Luz grinned up at her sister who flushed hotly and scowled. 

“Mind yourself,” she growled at the giggling light god.

“You’re still trying to impress her?” Luz asked and Boscha growled, red cheeks darkening further. 

“She’s just playing hard to get,” the storm god grumbled.

“So… mead from home?” She cocked a brow at her.

“She likes mead…,” Boscha gruffed.

“You don’t say?” Luz snickered, though she decided she best stop while she was ahead by the way lightning was starting to crackle across her elder sister’s arms and her eyes held a faint glow. 

“Good luck, Boscha.” she moved away, leaving her sister to try and romance the villages herbalist, the thunder god way, which had worked in the past, Luz would admit, but Willow seemed to care little for her sister’s status and even less for her ego. She had told her as much one night when it seemed that Boscha was not going to go away anytime soon.

Luz shared that little bit of information with her sister, who had then destroyed several trees with bolts of lightning and she decided not to bring it up again. 

Luz hummed happily to herself as she made her way through the village, making her way toward Amity’s home, she was halfway up the hill, giddy excitement at the prospect of seeing Amity, even if she saw her almost every other day already. Whenever they were apart she missed the jarl. 

Luz smiled to herself until a loud voice boomed out across the village. A higher-pitched voice that filled Luz with icy dread.

“Where is the champion of light?! Ha ha”

She whipped around, eyes wide, and it was her worst nightmare. Even from here, she can see him standing in the middle of the village. 

A towering, shirtless, wall of muscle with long braided brown hair and hook beaked nose, chest decorated on each side with the mirror images of an owl made of braided knots. His cloak of rich brown hung from his shoulders, pinned together by a pendant featuring the tri-horns of Odin, but the medallion hanging from his neck featured an arrow between two back to back dragons. 

“Oh no…. oh no, oh no!” Luz took off running back down the hill toward him. She almost ran smack into Boscha and Willow as she did.

“What is he doing here!?” Luz almost yelled at her.

“I didn’t bring him!” Boscha defended. 

“Who is that?” Willow demanded from the two gods, who looked worried, and if she’d gotten to know the two Asgardians at all, she knew that someone invulnerable like Luz and as cocksure as Boscha never looked worried. 

“Our brother,” the storm god frowned. “The god of war…”

“Hooty…,” Luz groaned under her breath.

“What is he shouting about, the champion of light?” 

“I can only guess he means your jarl…, she’s not Luz's champion… but he must think she is... understandably…,” she mumbled the last part and ignored the look Luz shot her. 

“Is he… laughing?” Willow blinked, concerned by the large man. 

“Ah, Hooty’s been smacked upside the head a few too many times over the last few hundred years… he has a sort of a... uh, speech thing.” The god of storms shrugged, 

"Ha, ha, come face me!" The pillar of a god was still shouting in the middle of the village and the villagers were all keeping a wide distance from him, quickly going to their homes.

"Oh, by the allfather, he wants to fight Amity!” The god of light slapped both her hands to her face in horror, especially as Amity must have heard the shouting and was stepping out of her home up the hill. “Oh no!” Luz made a high-pitched noise of distress. Amity did not back down from challenges, nor did her brother, and as strong and skilled as Amity was, she knew she was no match for the god of war. This was going to be a disaster.

“Last I checked, he was off in the far west being part of some battle with another of our dear brothers…. the little mischief-maker must be around here somewhere…,” Boscha grumbled, glancing around for the smallest of their brothers that stood on two legs. 

“Hooty, what are you doing here!?” Luz ran up to the towering god of war.

“Luz! I heard you finally got a champion, I want to test their strength, ha!” He leaned down, smiling stupidly in greeting to the youngest of his siblings.

“No, Hooty, you can’t fight Amity, she’s not my champion!” Luz said.

“That’s not what Gus said. A warrior has been dedicating victories to you, we must fight, ha ha! I want to see if they're strong enough to champion you!” He held up his fist.

“No!” Luz threw up her hands in exasperation.

“What is going on down here?!” Amity asked as she approached, causing all eyes to turn to her.

“This ought to be good…,” Boscha mumbled to Willow, who frowned. 

“Fight me!” Hooty declared without preamble. “Are you as weak as the rest of the rats, ha!?” Hooty pointed a hand at Amity, who blinked wildly at the towering man standing in the center of her village, yelling for the champion of light. While she was certainly not the god of light’s champion, she could only guess he meant her. She was the only warrior around dedicating battles to the god of light and joy on the Boiling Isles.

“I’m not the champion of light, and I have no reason to quarrel with you,” Amity told him, a hand fisted on her hip. 

“Ha, you’re a coward then? Ha.” He stepped forward and Amity scowled at the stilted laughing and took a half step forward, but then Luz’s arms were wrapped around her waist.

“Don’t fight my brother!” she pleaded in her ear, which made Amity stop.

“Your brother?” she repeated, blinking at Luz over her shoulder before she looked back up at the tall, mountain of a man before her. 

Was everyone in Luz’s family monstrously tall and had no sense of what clothes to wear in what weather?!

“Please, Amity.” Luz’s hot breath on the shell of her ear instantly cooled her annoyance even as it made her face warm and heart race. 

She took a deep breath and forced her body to relax; for Luz. 

"What does he even want?" 

Before Luz could answer, Hooty was stepping forward and leaned his seven-foot frame down, his face almost pressed to hers.

"Are you afraaaaaid, mortal?" 

Amity could feel a vein in her neck bulge, suddenly so angry that she missed the ‘mortal’ comment, all she was aware of was his horrible breath fanning over her face.

Her first made contact with his chin before anyone could process what was happening and he went stumbling backward and Amity followed up with a second swing that sent him sprawling into the dirt.

"Amity!" Luz gripped her hair in both hands, pulling on the strands.

"Whoo, yeah!" Boscha whooped and Willow punched her in the arm, scowling at her. "What?"

Amity was scowling down at the giant of a man who sat up quickly and didn't even seem fazed but his seemingly pupilless black eyes lit up.

"Finally, a worthy opponent, ha!" 

For someone so large he moved quickly and was back on his feet within a moment, and in the blink of an eye, his fist connected with Amity's nose, sending her feeling backward, blood gushed from her nose; Luz made a strangled noise of distress.

Amity dug her foot into the dirt, stopping her slide, and only looked all the more furious when her golden eyes locked on him. She let out a snarling roar and grabbed her ax from her back and brandished it in front of her.

"Amity, please!" Luz shrieked and grabbed her around the waist, holding her back while she struggled against her 

For someone so tall and lanky, Luz was surprisingly strong with an iron-like grip.

"I'm going to destroy him!" the jarl snarled. 

"Now it's getting good…," Boshca said

"Do something!" Willow shouted at the hammer-wielding deity.

"Ugh, fine," the god of storms scoffed. “Only because you asked…”

She knew there was only one way to really stop this and pulled her hammer off her hip. She was going to have to knock him senseless.

Hooty was stalking forward toward the jarl, still being restrained in Luz's grip 

"Hooty!"

The god of war stopped dead in his tracks, as did Boscha, who had already taken half a step forward, arm raised to smack her brother stupider than he already was with her hammer.

Holding Amity back, Luz was glowering at the taller god over her shoulder and her eyes glowed with a bright light, a snarl on her face. Both gods can't help the shiver that ran down their spine as they felt the change in the atmosphere around them. Their sister was angry, very. Something that had happened so rarely that the taller two deities don't know how to react at first.

The tension was broken only by a new voice.

"Uhh, this might have been a little more mischief than I intended…" 

Everyone's eyes swiveled to the new voice and found a young man, even shorter than Willow, with dark skin and hair wearing a tunic of pale blue and cloak of emerald green, a bronze pendant bearing a curled up snake hung from around his neck.

"Gus!" Luz's glowing eyes land on her brother who grinned sheepishly in the face of his sister’s furious face.

"Heyyyy, Luz." 

~ ~

Luz frowned to herself as she dabbed at the dried blood on Amity's face, the jarl winced, but she only sat there silently, frowning

Luz had said very little since her sister had led away the oldest of their siblings and Gus had finished profusely apologizing. 

As soon as the two brothers had heard that she had finally met the warrior that had chosen her for their patron and was spending time with her, they decided to come to visit but somewhere along the way Hooty had heard about how impressive a warrior Amity was and decided he wanted to see for himself, and being the tricky little God he was, Gus had encouraged it, not realizing how quickly things would get out of hand or just how much his sister cared about the warrior.

Once Boscha had taken Hooty home Gus had found himself to be greatly entertained by the twins, who Amity herself had said we're incredible troublemakers, piquing her brother's interest.

Luz sighed and Amity couldn't take the look on her face anymore.

"I'm sorry," the jarl finally said, glancing away.

"Huh?" Luz blinked, looking up at her as she came out of her thoughts. "What are you sorry for?" she asked.

"I should have never punched him," she mumbled nasally, her nose was packed with cloth and herbs. Luz stared at her for a second before she jolted.

“What? No! This is my fault Amity.” She sighed, hand falling away from the warrior’s face. “My siblings all follow eventually, they treat me like a child sometimes, like I need someone to check up on me,” she grumbled. “And you got hurt because of it… maybe I shouldn’t be hanging around the village so much.” she frowned, glancing at the floor until Amity’s hand on her chin forced her to look back up at her and the two black eyes forming around her bloody and bruised nose.

“If I had to choose between you not being here, or all you ridiculously tall and touched siblings, I’ll manage them,” she said, making the god of light smile.

“You might regret that…,” she said with a small grin that made Amity laugh, despite how much her nose hurt. 

“I won’t,” she promised.

~ ~ ~ 

Winter had slowly but surely melted away as the days grew longer and warmer. The snows ceased to fall and what remained melted into dew that watered the fresh grasses and flowers of spring. 

Time just seemed to slip through her fingers like sand whenever she was with Amity. Before, the days passed like years, and she knew she wasn’t the only one who felt this way. It was one of the reasons the gods enjoyed associating so closely with the mortals of Midgard. They were a constant reminder that things did in fact change, grow, and cease to be someday. An ideal that ran in direct opposition to their own unarguable permanence.

When every day was identical to the one that came before it, one began to crave such change, even if at a distance.

Unlike the rest of the Aesir, who usually put their time and attention on mortals for this purpose, Luz had always preferred the changing state of Midgard itself. In truth, it was not the only realm of the nine to experience changes nor be filled with creatures that were subject to its whims, but she had always found it to be one of the most beautiful.

The changing of the seasons and the people had always been able to fill the yearning for something more in her, at least she thought it had.

Now she thinks it was a bandage at best for what she’d truly needed. 

A desire for something far more beautiful and precious.

The thing, or rather the woman with her head resting in her lap at present. 

They sat beneath a tree in the fields outside Boneshaven on a beautiful day in early spring. Amity’s head laid in her lap as she rested, she’d just returned the day before from a battle in the forests north of the village where a band of marauders had been terrorizing people traveling along the road. She had a few newly scabbed over scrapes on her arms and sides. While she rested Luz contented herself with running her fingers gently over the scars that crisscrossed at random intervals across her skin, feeling the rough tissue under the pads of her fingers. She especially liked to touch the ones that diagonally bisected her face, when Amity allowed it, she was sensitive about them most of the time, and had never talked about them, at least not the one time Luz had asked, months ago. As an invulnerable being who could not be hurt, nor feel pain, her skin was clear of any such marks or blemishes, but they fascinated Luz, especially Amity’s; stories of battles won and a life lived hard. Luz found them charming in a way, a sort of map of her strength and bravery. Other then the ones on her face, she especially liked the ones on her fingers, and Amity seemed to really like when she held her hands in hers and ran her fingers over the litany of deep marks that crossed her palms and digits if the way her face turned flushed was any indication. 

A light breeze blew through the air, rustled their hair and clothes as well as the fresh buds on the trees above them. 

Luz had been wondering for months now, and instead of trying to figure it out she thought it might be time to just ask outright, she did before, but they know each other much better now and this isn’t even close to what this is about anymore, but the curiosity still squirms at the back of her mind. 

“Amity?” she called quietly, testing if the warrior was asleep or not. She had been very tired yesterday and if she was asleep, Luz wouldn’t bother her.

“Hmm?” is the low humming reply from the jarl, but she did not open her eyes, she was quite comfortable where she was as Luz’s fingers ghosted over the litany of scars across her face and neck, basking in the slow, gentle affection being lavished on her that caused a soft, warmth and happiness to buzz under her skin. Never in her life had she been happier than the last several months since the woman had wandered into her life, never has she cared so deeply about anyone, she doesn’t know how to behave half the time. 

“Can I ask you a question?” she started, unsure, but Amity only made another quiet, agreeing noise. 

"I know I’ve asked before, but I still wonder, why Baldur?" Luz finally asked. "I've wandered around quite a lot over the years, and most warriors choose Thor or Tyr as their patron god, or Odin, someone who can protect them. Baldur's never protected anyone, yet I’ve never met anyone with such unshakeable faith in their patron as you..." Luz was looking down at her closed eyes, running her fingers through the loose hair Amity has dyed green with the special paste she used from the insides of spindlewood plants, it also made her hair quite soft, though Luz thinks she likes the auburn roots peeking out from the crown of her head best, it was a pretty color. 

Amity's eyes slid open to look up at her and a frown pulled at her lips. She sighed quietly and sat up to sit next to her. Luz already missed her warmth across the top of her lap. 

"If I tell you this, will you swear an oath never to repeat it?” she asked, and Luz quickly nodded. 

“I swear,” she said seriously and Amity sighed again.

“The god of light did protect me, light protected me," Amity said seriously, and Luz blinked at her curiously. Amity hesitated as she looked into Luz’s eyes, she had never told this story before except to Edric and Emira, and even then, not all of it, barely half, but she can’t deny this bond she feels with Luz, like they belong together. She knew she could trust her, and Amity wanted her to know. "I was the youngest, as you know, but also my parents’ biggest disappointment,” her voice was quiet. “I was an easy outlet for their anger and frustration for a long time because of this,” she said, not looking at Luz, but down at the village at the bottom of the hill, they were perched on. “That’s where I got these…” She motioned to the deep, large scars that crossed over her face and Luz’s insides turned cold at that as she realized what Amity was saying. Now she wondered how many of Amity’s scars were from pitched battle and how many were from a parent beating a defenseless child.

She voiced none of this though as Amity went on. 

“At the time, I thought it was because I wasn’t good enough, that's what they told me, that I was never good enough, that I was weak.” her jaw clenched she went on. “As a child, I was afraid of the dark, like most children at one point or another; this was an unacceptable flaw on my part,” she mumbled, crossing her arms over her chest. “So they tried to… weed it out of me.” 

“How?” Luz couldn't stop herself from asking. It feels wrong to interrupt this, and she probably needn’t ask, but she did. 

“By barring me in dark rooms and caverns for hours at a time,” she said quietly, hunched over, as though trying to curl into herself as she pulled her knees to her chest. 

Luz scooted closer, she’s not sure if Amity wanted to be touched or not. Usually, she never wanted Luz to stop running her fingers through her hair, holding her hand, or just touching her scars, but every once in a while, when she got overly emotional she didn’t want to be looked at, much less touched, but Amity leaned into her and Luz took the opportunity to curl herself around the warrior, hoping to offer any comfort Amity needed.

She thought that was the end of the story; she really wished it had been.

“It didn’t work, it never worked… every time it got worse, until the very idea of darkness petrified me…,” she mumbled against Luz’s neck, twisting her fingers into her tunic and squeezing as close to her as possible. “My siblings tried, they did, but Ed and Em were fighting their own demons with our parents, their hands were tied,” Amity’s voice had begun to tremble.

Luz squeezed her tighter as she spoke, wishing she could do something more, but for all her powers, here, she was helpless. 

“Then one day, early in my eighteenth spring, I overheard them talking about trying again, to fix me, snuff out my weakness... And I couldn’t, I couldn’t do it again… So I ran, I ran and I was caught…” she squeezed her eyes shut. 

_She cried, damn near close to sobbed actually, as she hung loose in their tight grip. She knew where they were going, she could just feel it; she knew her parents after all. Theirs was cruelty without limit, she’d learned that well, her skin crawled with anticipation._

_Her eyes were open, but cloth was tied around them, blocking out her vision and causing fear to spike through her as she was carried roughly through the forest by the elbows. She knew it because she could hear the grass and twigs snap underfoot as they carried her along by the arms._

_She gave up struggling some time ago, after the fifth smack across her mouth that made her taste blood. Her tears dripped silently down her cheeks from beneath the rough material that blacked out her vision._

_They stopped and the cloth was ripped from her face, she squeezed her eyes against the harsh and sudden light, slowly her vision returned and sure enough, they were exactly where she feared they would be._

_She stood in the middle of the woods, two of her family's indentured servants held her by the arms, and before them was the opening to a cavern, deep and dark._

_She was intimately familiar with this place._

_Standing in front of her on the other side of the pit was her parents, looking at her as imperiously as always, the look in their eyes was one of disappointment and disgust, it always was._

_"You would run from your fears, Amity?" Her father's rough voice cut through her and made her wince, it was filled with venom and derision. "There will be no cowards in clan Blightbane!" He snarled. "If you wish to spit upon honor it will be only your own, from this moment on, should you survive," he spoke, casting her out._

_With those words, the two servants hurled her into the pit and darkness consumed her._

_She barely had time to scream before she hit the bottom with a painful cracking thud that jolted her every joint, her whole body ached with the impact. She managed to turn over and look up, just in time to watch the servants move a large stone over the opening of the cavern and the light vanished._

_Darkness surrounded her from every side, pressed in close, almost painfully as panic started to set in._

_The blackness was so thick and absolute she could hardly tell which way was up or down, disorienting._

_She swallowed thickly, trembling as she found the strength to crawl to her knees. She knew, knew that this cavern had several tunnels that led other places, but fear gripped her so hard in its clutches she could not think clearly, and even if she could she could not see the way._

_Somehow, eventually, she found herself moving… crawling along the cavern floor in jilted, trembling movements out of desperate necessity._

_It was a snail's pace, but the most she could manage, bogged down by the terror that no matter how ridiculous she knew it to be, gripped her in its claws, deep enough that the scars would never heal._

_It was the height of spring, and the cavern was warm, warm enough that every inch of her skin was damp and clammy before long. She could feel the steam rising off it as she moved along._

_She wasn’t sure how long she crawled around the cavern floor, bumping into walls and rocks, slimy and wet or sharp and warm, but it was long enough that her hunger came and went several times. Time had little meaning in the gloom, where everything seemed to exist in a suspended state._

_The silence was almost as bad as the darkness; almost. Her heartbeat rang constantly in her ears, a steady staccato rhythm that rose erratically when she could not keep the terror at bay. Her own heartbeat and her staggered breathing were the only sounds for hours and hours; it was enough to drive one insane._

_She knew that quite some time had passed, even if she wasn’t sure how long. It could just be a few hours, but she was fairly certain it had been a few days._

_Her strength had run dry, as was the inside of her mouth, what she wouldn't do for water right now._

_She couldn't go on._

_She dropped to the cavern floor, breathing was too much of an effort at this point, so she laid there, face pressed to the rough, warm stone. What breath she could manage came out in shallow, wheezing whispers._

_The darkness still surrounded her, crawled beneath her skin in the most unpleasant way, something she could never hope to describe accurately to another being._

_Death was close and she could feel its breath whisper on the back of her neck. At this point, it would be a welcome visitor in this place of absolute shadows._

_She couldn’t help the dry sob that escaped her throat, it was not accompanied by tears, she was certain there wasn’t enough water left in her body to shed one, but grief bursts forth regardless._

_This was it, she had no will left to fight._

_She closed her eyes and laid still. She was tired. Tired, hungry, and thirsty. Her spirit was devoid of strength, she simply waited for death, as her parents wanted._

_She couldn’t be strong enough to uphold their clan's name, so she’d die, and at least leave it unstained._

_Her eyes closed and she continued to whimper, sadness for herself; it was all she had left now._

_How long she laid there, again, she couldn’t tell, but then, something pierced the dark._

_It was so faint at first, she was sure she was imagining things, but slowly, ever so slowly, it began to manifest._

_Pale at first, the breath of a whisper in the dark, but it grew stronger and stronger with the passing moments._

_Light_

_A tiny, floating ball of light had manifested itself from the pitch blackness of the cavern and its' light stretched across the floor and up the walls, filled her eyes with it's small, but brilliant incandescence._

_She couldn't speak if she wanted to, but awe, pure and unbridled, brightened her world._

_Then, it moved, slowly, but she could tell it was moving, floating slowly through the caverns twisting pathways._

_She followed._

_Using whatever force that kept her breathing, she pushed herself back to her knees and followed the slowly drifting light._

_She followed it a while, and then, there was more._

_Not more floating orbs of light, but a wide crack in the cavern walls._

_Blinding light seeped through, it shined across her face and made her eyes burn._

_It was desperation, pure and simple, that sent Amity scrambling to her feet, though she stumbled. The lingering dregs of her strength power her frenzied and frantic clawing at the crumbling, cracked rock._

_She couldn’t even feel it cut her hands, couldn’t feel the warm blood that seeped between her fingers and onto the rock, she felt nothing of the tearing of her skin and nails, nothing at all except a furious, delirious, desire to escape; to leave the darkness._

_The rock gave way to her clawing and she fell through, hitting the ground outside the cavern, bright sunlight made her near-blind after so long, but never before had she been so happy, deliriously so._

_The next thing she knew was more darkness as she passed out beneath the wide-open sky._

_It was days more yet before she woke, and when she did, it was lying in a bed. She could immediately feel the bandages wrapped around her fingers and hands and wiggled them experimentally. They hurt, but they move at least._

_She spotted another young woman sitting at the bedside, her dark hair is short and her green eyes are focused on her._

_"You're awake!" The woman smiled. "We weren't sure you ever would…, I'm Willow, of Boneshaven," she introduced._

"The light showed me the way out and protected me. Before that, I had never paid much attention to the gods, but I think it was always fated that I would be an acolyte of Baldur, I was born during the summer solstice, after all, the height of summer, when light lasts longer than any other day of the year and the summer sun is at its peak. I don't think there's any other god as important as Baldur, who so rarely gets shown the appreciation deserved for one who brings light, joy, and the sun of the growing season of summer, so I will. Every battle I win has been and will be dedicated to the veneration of light, I want everyone to see and appreciate everything light gives us," she finished, looking up at Luz, who was looking back at her with rounded eyes and mouth hung slightly ajar as she held Amity in her limp grip. 

Luz had no idea what to say to all that. She was shocked most of all, by so many things. That Amity had suffered that way for one. She’d always known that mortals had a great propensity for cruelty but to their own children? Her own mother would never, to her or any of her siblings, even Hooty! There were so many things all bouncing around her head, vying for her attention and she would examine them all later, but one stood out more than the others.

Light

Light manifested itself for Amity.

That was not something Luz had expected to hear, and it was that jarring piece of information that finally put all the other pieces together for her. 

She'd been able to feel it from the moment they met, some sort of unexplainable pull toward the warrior, a desire to be near, but she’d dismissed it at first, then the thing that had happened at the lake of light. She never would have even had a guess, but hearing about the light manifesting in her time of need? Now she knew for sure. How stupid was she not to have seen it?!

Amity was meant to be hers, and vice versa. 

Not an act of the gods, but of the universe as a whole had created this creature in front of her and fated her to be hers. Her other half, the one Luz had given up on waiting for long, long ago. Nothing else in all the nine realms could explain how light had manifested itself for the mortal, guided her, why crystals of her essence reacted to her touch.

More importantly than that though, it only further drove home something Luz has been feeling for a while now, something she had been nervous about giving voice to, but now she felt the overwhelming urge to say it; to finally let it out. 

Amity was still looking at her expectantly, waiting for her to say something in response to her story and Luz pushed down everything else for a moment. She could see the tender vulnerableness in Amity’s face. She picked up the warrior hands in hers and turned them over to gaze at the deep scars that crossed her finger in many places, she had always assumed Amity’s scars were from some great battle or another, but knowing where they actually came from, at least these and the ones that crossed her face, it made her admiration for the warrior that much stronger.

Amity was still looking at her, unsure until Luz lifted her hands and pressed her lips to the scars there. Amity’s face was red as blood, but she didn't stop her, though she made a small squeaking noise in the back of her throat. She made sure to cover each mark on her flesh before holding them in her own. 

“I’m sorry,” she started, her grip around the warrior’s hands tightened. “I’m sorry they hurt you that way, Amity,” she mumbled and leaned in to press a kiss to pale green hair. 

“You don’t think I’m touched?” Amity asked quietly. “By madness? Because I thought I saw a light…” 

Luz choked back a breathy laugh that would probably not have been appreciated at that moment.

“No, I don’t think you’re touched, I know you saw a light,” she assured, letting go of Amity’s hands to pull her in close, running her fingers through her hair as she felt Amity go limp against her.

“You have no idea how relieved I am to hear you say that, Luz,” she mumbled, nuzzling her face against her neck. “I’ve never told anyone all of that story, I didn’t think anyone would ever believe me if I did.”

“I believe you…,” she said quietly. She held the warrior for a few minutes, till she seemed to relax and pulled back to lock eyes.

Looking into her gold eyes right now made the god’s heart beat so hard it almost hurt, she thought. She was not actually sure what pain should feel like.

Luz could feel her hand tremble as she reached out to caress Amity's cheek. The warrior just leaned into the touch as she looked up at her with a half-lidded gaze that made a shiver run down her spine.

She wanted to say so many things, and they all rushed to the tip of her tongue at once, clogged. So instead, she pulled back and reached beneath her cloak, fingers wrapping around the thick braided cord there, and pulled the hidden medallion from her neck. The round, gold pendant engraved with the mark of light, and slipped it over Amity's head to rest against her chest over her heart. 

All other gods would know, they would see and they would know, this one was hers and hers alone. 

"You should have this." Luz smiled and Amity blinked wide, surprised eyes as her fingers brushed the medallion. It felt strangely warm under her skin.

"You're an adherent of light?" Amity blinked, looking at the medallion with wide eyes. The medallion was quite obviously old and heavy with the weight of solid gold. Why would Luz just hand this over?

"Something like that," Luz chuckled, reaching out to brush a strand of hair behind one of Amity's ears.

“Luz, I can’t…” she moved to take it off and Luz stopped her with a gentle hand

“You should have it though. Please, Amity. Accept it as a token of my affection?”

Amity hesitated, but not for more than a moment before nodding, fingers still brushing the warm medallion. 

“If that’s what you want… thank you, Luz.” She looked up at her.

She could see it in her face, Amity was leaning forward, wanting to kiss her and Luz was only too happy to oblige her. It was slow, soft, and over much too quickly for the gods’ liking, but searing affection overflowed inside her and she opened her mouth to speak the words that had been bubbling up at the tip of her tongue for weeks now.

“I love you.”

Luz blinked, mouth still halfway open and words sitting in her mouth, unsaid, as Amity looked up at her, cheeks flushed, but she didn't look away, just stared up at Luz with a face she could only describe as enamored, and it made her own face hot. 

All she could do was lean her forehead against Amity’s, squeezing her close.

“I love you too,” she said back quietly. She could see the joy light up in those golden eyes and it made her stomach churn with pleasure, the fingers of one hand intertwined with Amity’s, the other wrapped gently around the back of her neck. 

Her eyes caught sight of the medallion hanging from the warrior’s neck, glimmering in the spring sunlight. 

Amity didn't know, didn’t understand the significance, didn't know the truth. 

But she would, very soon. 

Luz absolutely had to tell her now, there was nowhere else to go from here.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's some of what yall been waiting for!


	7. Chapter 7

Luz hummed quietly to herself as she ran her fingers through Amity's loose hair while they laid in her bed. The sun was rising slowly, it’s light, edging across the floor toward them, and once it hit Amity’s face, she would wake up, she always did.

At least she had the handful of times Luz had stayed with her before.

The god of light could sleep, but she didn’t need to, and didn’t usually, though she did like laying with Amity. She would spend the night watching as she slept peacefully, curled up against her side, fingers curled into Luz’s tunic or mumbling quietly under her breath as she dreamt. Amity kept a fire burning in the stone hearth when she went to bed, no matter the season, and knowing the jarls’ fear of darkness, it made sense, and she’d never said a word about it, though the first time it had been warmer outside she’d asked if Luz was hot and the god could truthfully answer no. She was always a pleasant temperature, though she wasn’t sure Amity believed her. 

Luz would close her eyes and wait for Amity’s breathing to even out in sleep before she would open them again to watch the flickering firelight bounce off the sharp planes of Amity’s face until the fire eventually went out, then she would create an orb of light to watch the sleeping mortal with until the sky began to lighten. 

She enjoyed these nights, where Amity asked her to stay with her. It wasn’t what she had thought she meant the first time, but all the jarl had wanted was to be held, and Luz was happy to indulge her, she very much liked to hold the warrior close, feel her breathing and hear her heart in its slow, steady rhythm. 

It was nice, just to be close and to know that Amity trusted her so much, to sleep so easily and deeply in her presence, which made her happy even as a pang of guilt shot through her chest.

It had been nearly six months since they had met, and she still had yet to tell Amity the truth.

At first, not telling Amity had been the practical solution, she wouldn't have been able to see her any other way but as Baldur, if she had just come right out and said it. Now it was different, now she was madly in love, and the longer she waited the more afraid Luz got, especially as everyone around her was constantly telling her that she needed to tell Amity the truth. 

She knew, of course, she did, but now it was a much more daunting task. 

Now, she was mired so deep in love with the woman that she was terrified of a negative reaction. Luz had been around for a very long time, but she’d never concerned herself with mortals, at least not romantically like the rest of her brethren did, she’d never really had any interest until now that was. 

She sighed to herself, and buried her nose into Amity’s hair, squeezing her gently to her, carefully trying not to wake her, but she did anyway.

Amity made a low humming noise as she surfaced into wakefulness, unconsciously snuggling closer to Luz, which made the god of light smile to herself and pressed a kiss to the warrior’s temple.

“Is it morning…?” her voice was muffled by Luz’s tunic, her face buried in her chest.

“Yeah…,” Luz mumbled back, giving up on not trying to wake her and curling herself around the jarl, who let out a breathy laugh. 

“Have you been awake long?” Amity asked around a yawn as she allowed Luz to pull her in closer beneath the woven blankets.

“No,” the god lied, but as far as her lies went, this wasn’t one worth even blinking at. They laid there for a while, the home slowly lighting up with the rising sun. 

“I’m hungry…,” the jarl grumbled after a while and Luz laughed.

“I’ll make you something,” she started to sit up, but Amity’s grip on her only tightened, yanking her back down to the blankets with a grunt.

“No,” was the clear answer. “Stay…,” she gruffed, scooting up to bury her face in the god's neck, which made Luz chuckle.

“I can’t get you something to eat if you don’t let me up.” Luz grinned as Amity squeezed her.

“Then I don’t want anything…,” Amity grumbled against her neck like a petulant child. Luz rolled her eyes and pulled back, but before Amity could whine or complain Luz quickly covered her lips with her own, several times really, letting the mortal breath only briefly between, though Amity didn’t seem to mind at all that her breaks were short as Luz kissed her deeply, over and over. 

“That was much better than breakfast,” the jarl mumbled when Luz finally ceased her attacks. The god laughed under her breath.

“You still need to eat, you have to meet with some of the villagers soon, don’t you?” she asked as she finally sat up and Amity reluctantly let her.

“Yes,” she sighed as Luz extracted herself from her grip.

She laid on her stomach in bed and watched as Luz moved around, stoking the fire back to life and setting about preparing food for them.

Picked meat and vegetables, It was only now getting to be hot, being late spring, so none of the newly planted crops were ready yet. 

Luz brought it to her, which the jarl gratefully accepted and they ate in comfortable silence, Luz letting herself get lost in her thoughts about the prospect of telling Amity the truth about herself and Amity just enjoyed the quiet moment with her. 

“I had better go,” Amity sighed before she stood and started pulling on her boots and tattered black cloak, grabbing her ax last. “I’ll be back soon,” Amity said quietly as she leaned down and pressed a kiss to Luz’s cheek, who grinned. 

Luz watched her go with a smile before a deep, rumble of thunder outside made her blink.

She stood and quickly walked outside the house. She looked up and sure enough, the sky was dark with roiling clouds and rumbling thunder. Lightning streaked across the sky and Luz could feel that this was not a naturally occurring storm, she could feel the familiar power wafting through the air.

Her sister was calling out to her. 

Luz sighed, rolling her eyes at the lazy storm god. She was certain she already knew where her sister was and quickly made her way down the hill to Willow’s home on the edge of the village. 

Sure enough, Boscha was waiting for her inside.

“You called?” she asked sarcastically as Willow let her in, shutting the door behind her.

“Yeah, we need to go back to Asgard, apparently King’s been getting into it with the dwarves again and father wants us to play mediator before anyone gets eaten, Gus and Hooty will be there too,” she informed her from her place laying haphazardly spread out on Willow’s bed, much to the herbalists' annoyance. 

“Of course he is…,” the light god sighed, dragging a hand down her face. 

“The legends say the dwarves make all your weapons, right?” Willow asked and the two nodded.

“Jewelry and all that too…,” Luz said, nodding.

“Like that medallion you gave Amity?” she asked, which made Boscha sit up suddenly.

“Medallion?” Boscha’s eyes narrowed as she sat up. “What medallion?” she demanded, glaring at her sister whose eyes widened.

“I… uh…” 

“You gave her your medallion?!” Boscha yelled, shooting up and stalking forward.

Luz swallowed, but quickly straightened, looking up at the towering god of storms.

“I can bequeath my medallion to whomever I please!” she asserted, frowning. Willow looked between the two sisters’, brows furrowed in worry and confusion.

“Have you told her who you are yet?” Boscha is leaning down over her, looking annoyed but she also seemed to already know the answer and is just waiting for Luz to confirm it for her.

Luz turned her head away, shrinking back down, unable to look up at her sister’s pale stormy blue-gray eyes.

“No…”

“Augh!” Boscha roared in exasperation, scowling at her sister. “She doesn’t understand, Luz!” The god of storms threw her arms out exasperated, and Luz sunk down further.

“What does the medallion mean?” Willow asked, looking between the two, her own eyes landing on the medallion hanging from Boscha’s own neck, her famous hammer engraved upon it.

“Each of us has one, given to us by our father, our sigils, giving it to someone is a…” Boscha hesitated, rolling a hand as she tried to come up with the right words. “It tells other gods that the wearer belongs to that god and isn’t to be touched,” she finished.

“And ‘belongs to’ meaning?” Willow’s eyes narrowed dangerously.

“Like a lover,” Boscha grunted. “It’s the Aesir version of intent to marry… which your jarl accepted, but Luz didn’t tell her what it means!” she snapped, turning back to Luz

“I’m going to, as soon as we get back I’m going to finally tell her!” the light god declared. “I can’t tell her right now, you and I have to leave now for Asgard!” she reasoned and her sister only continued to scowl.

Willow sighed, rubbing her temple, she needed a drink.

“I agree, telling her now only for you to leave right after… but as soon as you get back you need to tell her, Luz, you’ve been lying to her for nearly two seasons!” 

“I will, I will!” she promised, frowning as the two looked at her. “I’m gonna go tell her bye, then we can go…,” she mumbled and hurried out before either could say anything more. 

Luz sighed to herself, her sister was right of course, as was Willow.

By offering the medallion, Luz was offering herself, there was no higher form of commitment among the gods, and Amity had accepted it. Luz frowned to herself as she walked through the village. Amity had accepted it, but she didn’t understand the significance of the gesture, what accepting the medallion actually meant, both for her and for Luz.

She couldn’t have though, not so long as Luz withheld the truth about her nature from her. 

Not only did she have to tell her about who she actually was, but then she would have to explain that! Amity had accepted without really knowing what it was she was accepting, rendering the offer meaningless. She should have waited, waited till after she’d told the jarl the truth, see if she even still wanted her.

It was depressing thoughts like that which had started off this long, complicated charade, but also filled Luz with dread. If Amity decided she didn’t want to be with her anymore… then what would she do?

She didn’t think she could ever go back to her life as it was before Amity came into it. 

She only frowned harder to herself as she walked up to the jarl's longhouse. She was going to have to face it soon, no matter the outcome, she couldn’t keep lying to Amity, for her or for herself. Luz could not deny her own nature forever, it was getting increasingly hard to hide things from Amity, especially as Luz rarely left the village anymore.

She didn’t have to do most things mortals did, and because of her invulnerability, she didn’t even have to do things the other gods did, like dress for winter and summer, well, except Hooty, who never put on a tunic. 

Luz ate, though she didn’t have to, she was the only god that didn't need to since her invulnerability shielded her from hunger and thirst, though she still liked to do both on occasion. Boscha especially liked to get blind drunk. She was honestly surprised Amity had not picked up on the fact that Luz couldn’t feel pain or be injured, especially after a few incidents that she had only barely been able to playoff. 

Willow claimed the jarl was much too blinded by her love for the deity to see what was right in front of her. This fact warmed Luz even as it made her stomach fill with dread. 

She pushed open the door to find Amity sharpening her ax. The jarl looked up and smiled when she saw her.

“I was wondering where you’d gone,” she said.

“Boscha came, I have to leave for a… family thing,” she grumbled.

“Has something happened?” Amity frowned and Luz was touched by the concern on her face,

“No, no, nothing has happened, exactly. King has gotten himself in trouble again and our father wants us to help smoothen things out if we can. King has never been the most… diplomatic.” she rolled her eyes.

“Oh, will you be back by nightfall?” the jarl asked, setting aside the ax and stood before she made her way over to Luz.

“Um, I should be, why?” she cocked her head curiously. Amity chewed her bottom lip and Luz watched, fascinated as her cheeks began to darken, eyes looking anywhere but at Luz.

“I… I’ve been thinking and… there's something I want to do… with you,” she said, voice quiet, almost shy.

“What?" 

"I want… to be with you," she mumbled.

"You... are with me?" Luz's eyes narrowed in confusion.

Amity's face was turning redder by the minute.

"You're going to make me say it aren’t you…," she grumbled under her breath. Luz just blinked and Amity sighed. She loved this woman, as oblivious as she could sometimes be. "Luz I want to...I want…" Again, she hesitated, face bloody red. Why was this so hard?!

Luz reached out and grabbed one of the warrior's hands as Amity made a frustrated face.

"What is it, Amity?" Luz was looking at her with concern now.

The jarl took a deep breath.

"I-"

"She wants to ride you like a prized stallion!"

They both jumped as Boscha stuck her head in one of the windows, grinning wickedly.

“GET OUT!” Amity screamed at the grinning redhead, face ablaze, and a vein popping up on her neck. Boscha cackled and pulled her head back out as Amity moved to throw something. 

“Oh…”

Amity turned back to Luz, who seemed to have had a dawning realization as her own face turned red.

“OH!” She was looking at Amity with wide, brown eyes. “You want to…”

“We don’t have to if you don’t, I just…,” Amity rushed to assure her.

“No, I do, I do!” Luz said quickly. “I uh, I’ve just… never…,” she trailed off, face hot.

“You haven’t? Well, I don’t know why I’m surprised, you didn’t even know what I was talking about…” she smirked and Luz’s face reddened further if it were possible. 

“Well, I’m sorry I'm not as experienced as you…,” she grumbled, crossing her arms, embarrassed. Of all the gods, Luz was certain she was the only one who could truthfully say she’d never laid with a mortal, or anyone actually. She’d just never been all that interested in the Aesir's favorite hobby outside fighting. 

“I’ve never been with anyone either…,” Amity said. 

“...and you want me?” Luz blinked, pointing to herself, which made the jarl laugh aloud at her.

“Yes, Luz. I want you.” She stepped closer and reached up to cup one of the taller woman’s cheeks in her hand as she stared up at her adoringly. “I love you…” 

Luz pressed a hand over Amity’s, turning her face into her palm and soaking up the warmth, but her stomach was quickly filling with dread and guilt. 

“And I love you...,” she mumbled against the scarred skin of Amity’s palm. “I want you too, but…,” she started, unsure, and Amity’s smile fell as a worried look came over her face.

“But…?” she prompted.

“Before that… when I get back, there's something I need to talk to you about… something very important I’ve been putting off,” she finally said, reluctantly meeting Amity’s eyes.

“What is it?” Amity frowned, but Luz shook her head.

“Boscha is waiting, but when I get back we’ll talk, alright?” she asked and Amity nodded.

“Alright…” 

Luz hesitated a second before leaning down to press a chaste kiss to the jarls mouth,

“I’ll be back soon,” she promised before she moved away, Amity watching as she went, frowning.

Luz scowled the second she caught sight of her sister still leaning against the wall of Amity’s home outside. She quickly followed, catching up to the god of light.

“I hate you,” she growled at Boscha, who laughed loudly as they walked.

“She was never going to get it out!” she defended herself. Luz just grumbled to herself and they were quiet for a long few minutes before Boscha couldn’t help herself.

“Was that true?” she asked.

“What?”

“Have you truly never laid with anyone?” Boscha asked curiously, and Luz’s face turned bright red.

“Were you standing there the whole time!?” she demanded. 

“That’s not an answer.” Boscha grinned at her as Luz spluttered.

“Who would I have been with?” she finally growled, refusing to look at her sister, who shrugged.

“I dunno, if I’m bored I just pick a mortal to have a good time with.” she shrugged. 

“Is that what you're doing with Willow?” Luz cocked a brow, looking at her sister out of the corner of her eye; Boscha frowned.

“No…” 

“Because she won't have sex with you, or…” she stopped as lightning began to crackle along the redheads’ arms. “Nevermind…,” she mumbled, turning back to look ahead.

Overhead the storm continued to build, rumbling filled the air.

~

It had been raining for a few hours when dark began to fall over the village and Amity had spent the entire day trying to keep her mind off thinking about whatever it was Luz wanted to talk about when she returned.

She looked and sounded so uncharacteristically serious that it made worry bubble up in Amity’s gut. 

Something important she had been putting off…? Nothing immediately jumped to the front of Amity's mind. Things had been going perfectly between the two of them, they barely squabbled about anything, and for someone like Amity, with a naturally combative and abrasive personality, that was saying something. 

She stared out the window of her home at the village just down the hill.

Dark had just started to fall in earnest and she could see the litany of little lights that dotted the landscape, the fires that warmed and lit the various homes of the village. She contented herself this way for a while, listening to the heavy rainfall outside her home and watching the pale flickering of the lights.

Her eyes had grown so used to them that it took her a few moments to truly notice when new lights had appeared. They were far away at first, little dots on the horizon but before long they grew brighter and larger.

Torches approaching the village gate, a number of them.

The next thing she knew the gates were on fire.

Everything is a whirlwind after that, fire is spreading across the village at an alarming rate and marauders are storming through the village to the screams of her frightened people.

Amity is storming out of her home, ax in hand and cloak thrown over her shoulders within moments as the rain poured down around her. 

Normally The village would be pitch black, but there are fires everywhere, and she can clearly see the warriors hacking at the various houses and some of the villagers who had come outside to defend themselves, their screams echoed over the howling storm. It doesn't take long for her warriors to come spilling out of their homes, weapons in hand and then the screams are secondary to the sounds of pitch battle.

She's splashing through the puddles and mud, swinging her ax at the first armored warrior to throw themselves at her. He held up an arm as if to ward off the mighty great ax, but the blade only sliced clean through his flesh and bone like a hot knife through lard and traveled onward to bury itself into his chest.

With a heave, she yanked the blade back, blood gushed from the gaping wound and they fell into the mud at her feet. Amity wasted no time moving forward to her next opponent, who came from behind bashing her in the side of the face with his round shield. She staggered back, trying to put some distance between herself and her opponent even in her slightly rattled state, giving her enough time to right herself before he came at her again, sword held high, but she is quicker, and again the blade of her ax cleaved through flesh, slicing through his neck, sending his head flying somewhere into the fray in a fountain of blood.

She schooled herself, and she took a second to survey the battlefield, several homes are burning, but it seems the rain has put out the small fires at the gate, meanwhile the defenseless village people are running and screaming, barricading themselves inside their homes while battle took place in the rain outside, the muddy pathways becoming just as much blood as they are rain and mud. 

She spotted Viney, along with another of her warriors, Jerbo, at her brother and sister's side, the warriors fighting off any would-be attackers while the twins helped put out the fires and directed the villagers to safety.

They would be fine, she has faith in them, she needed to keep moving.

The sound of feet quickly slurping through the mud behind her made her whip around in time to see a large bearded marauder lift his sword overhead, but before he can bring it down a heavy spiked mace smashed into the side of his face in a splatter of blood and the crunching sound of his skull caving in.

He fell into the mud, blood pooling around his barely recognizable head.

Amity looked up to find the village herbalist standing there, hair soaked and plastered to her face that was speckled with blood, heaving as she brandished the large heavy weapon.

"By the allfather, what is going on?!" she shouted.

"We're under attack!" Is the jarl's answer, and she can tell by the look on Willow's face that that was not the answer she was looking for, but it's the only one Amity has for her right now; she's just as lost.

"By who, why?!" 

Amity has no answer for these questions, nor the time to find them, they have more important matters to attend to at the moment. 

She quickly rounded up as many of her warriors as she could so they could make their way through the village, and slowly began to thin out the numbers of their attackers, but there are a lot, far more than she had thought.

It was a new scream that caught her attention, and she turned in time to see another of the marauders, moving away from the village, torch in one hand but clutched under one arm they held one of the village children, Braxus, one of the sweetest of the children that roamed to the village all day.

"You lead them, I'll be back!" she yelled her orders at Willow over her shoulder and the sound of the pouring rain as she took off.

"Amity!" Willow called, but the jarl was already disappearing into the dark of the forest, grabbing a flaming torch from the ground as she ran.

~ ~

"Why does he have to be like that?" Luz groaned as they walked through the forest. Boscha just shrugged.

"He's your twin…," the storm god grumbled. "At least we got him to call off his blood feud with that dwarf… I mean, after he bit off one of his arms…," she chuckled, making Luz groan.

“Hooty was not helpful at all…,” she grumbled as water dripped down her face. The storm overhead was still pouring rain and rumbling thunder and lightning. Boscha was clearly unbothered and had ignored Luz’s requests to lift it, claiming that the area needed it.

“Is he ever?” Boscha laughed and Luz couldn’t help but snort in agreement but said nothing else. Boscha tilted her head as she looked down at her younger sister, except for when she was yelling at her twin she had been pretty quiet the majority of the day.

“You okay? You haven't said a lot since we left the village,” she asked and Luz shrugged. 

“I just… have a really bad feeling…” she frowned.

“About telling your jarl about who you really are?” she guessed.

“Maybe… I just have this bad feeling, you know, like… something is wrong,” she mumbled. Something had been gnawing at her for the last hour or so, a sense of dread in the pit of her stomach that would not relent. "I am worried about telling Amity the truth, what if she doesn't love me anymore?" She looked up at her sister, who was making a scrunched up face.

"Eh… I dunno, Luz. if she's angry, it would be understandable you've been lying to her for quite a while…"

"I didn't want to lie! I just wanted her to know me, I've seen the way mortals treat you or Gus. I don't want her to walk on eggshells around me…, I wanted to tell her so much sooner… but then before I knew it six months had passed…" Luz scowled to herself, running a hand through her hair.

"I don't know, Luz. I think she's probably going to be mad… but I've seen the way she is with you, and Flowers says she's head over heels for you too, so I think you're just going to have to kind of scrape and grovel, though I wouldn't normally condone, that not to a mortal… or anyone, but if you want to keep her that's what I suggest." 

"I hope you're right… now I just wish I could get rid of this terrible feeling in my gut…," the light god sighed as they approached the outskirts of the village.

"Who could resist this face?" Boscha cooed, grabbing her sister's cheeks in one hand.

"Cut it out!" Luz growled, smacking her hand away while the god of storms cackled.

They saw the glowing light of the fire before the village ever came into view.

"What's happening?" Luz asked and Boscha only narrowed her eyes before darting forward with her younger sister right behind her.

They round a bend in the hills and can see the village, the gates are on fire as are some of the houses, and the sounds of pitched battle echo into the night over the sound of pouring rain and thunder. 

"I have to find Amity!" Luz is running towards the village before her sister can even think to stop her. 

Her feet sent water splattering as she sprinted down the muddy path, she could hear her sister on her heels and finally, they were close enough to see what's going on.

Warriors in black cloaks are fighting against the village warriors, being slowly but surely beaten back.

"We have to do something!"

Boscha grunted, took her hammer in hand, and bolted into the center of the battle, swinging. Bones shatter and snap under the force of her blows, sending men flying into the mud to be trampled or bleed out in the rain. Luz followed close behind as marauders saw the new opponent and made a beeline straight for her. Boscha grinned to herself as lightning crackled across her arms and Mjolnir glowed with its light.

The first two to get within striking distance are blasted with such a concussive force of lightning that they flew across the village, their bodies smoking. Luz knows her sister is only playing, had she wanted, she could have made them explode.

Men quickly jump out of the way at the site of this powerful new force blazing through them, except one, a few yards away, who came barreling at them ax raised overhead and screaming a battle cry, eyes locked on the red-headed warrior. Boscha smirked, arm swung back, ready to meet him head-on. 

He is so focussed on her that he doesn't notice the mace come speeding toward his face until it's embedded into his skull with a sickening crack, and he knows nothing more after.

Willow yanked her mace free and turned to the two deities looking at her with wide eyes.

"You're back!" She yelped, running up to them. 

"Since when could you fight?" Boscha barked out the question in surprise, eyes wide and mouth ajar.

"What's going on?" Luz asked, frantic, she still hasn't seen Amity anywhere among the battling warriors.

"No one knows, we were just attacked at sundown!" the herbalist explained, wiping water off her face, the rain is torrential now and thunder continued to boom overhead.

"Where's Amity!?" 

"She went running off after a marauder, into the woods!" She pointed in the direction, and without a second thought Luz took off running in that direction.

Boscha scowled at her sister's back as she ran. Luz was invulnerable, so Boscha wasn't worried about her sometimes brash, younger sister, so much as what Luz might do.

The god of light was more formidable than most people thought, especially in conjunction with her invulnerability, she just had no interest in combat as the rest of them did.

"Will they be okay?" Willow asked and Boscha looked down at the herbalist.

"Luz will be fine, and your jarl will be fine so long as Luz is looking out for her," Boscha grunted.

~ ~  
The raindrops sting her face like needles as Amity ran through the woods chasing the marauder holding one of the village children, torch held out in front of her to ward off the darkness. It's become slightly more manageable over the last couple of years, there was a time where walking out into the night with a torch or not was almost impossible for her. 

She's gotten better, even if she may never be able to shake it completely.

Right now she's driven by the intense desire to rescue the boy, she made an oath when she became Jarl that she would protect every member of her village even if it meant her death.

They run through the trees, armor clinking together and branches scratch her face and arms as she ran, but she does not slow, not for a single moment.

Then, he stopped.

They're in a clearing, not too far from the village, among the trees.

He stopped and turned to face her, Braxus still struggling beneath his arm, struggling and crying. This one looked different than the other ones she'd killed that night. They're wearing a horned helmet that covers the top half of their face and even in the dim light she could see a pendant that holds their cloak together, but cannot make out what symbol is engraved upon it, that is not high on her list of priorities though at the moment.

"Release him!" she snarled, brandishing her ax in front of her. 

The helmeted marauder dropped him without a word, and the boy scrambled to his feet and raced to her, throwing himself at her knees.

He's scared, crying, and covered in mud, but unharmed.

"It's okay, Braxus," she tried to soothe him as he cried into the legs of her pants, smearing them with mud.

The clinking of metal made her look up in time to see the marauder toss his torch to the side and despite the pouring rain, it lands in something that quickly erupts into a blazing fire, spreading all around them, and then they're encircled in a ring of flame that lights up the area.

It is at this moment that she knows, this was a trap.

She scooped the boy up in one hand and tossed him over the flames, along with her torch, she can see well enough with all the fire.

"Run back to the village, Braxus, go!" she commanded. He hesitated for a moment pulling himself up out of the rain and mud, still sniffling, then picked up the torch and went, she watched the light disappear into the darkness of the woods. 

Amity scowled as she turned back toward the helmed warrior, who had pulled his own sword and wooden round shield from his side and brandished it at her.

Amity hefted her ax and they stared at each other across the expanse of wet, muddy ground, thunder rumbled and lightning flashed across the sky in bright blue arcs. 

With a roar the marauder charged her, swinging, Amity blocked it with the shaft of her ax and winced at the impact. He's strong, very, but it's never stopped her before.

With a mighty shove, she pushed him backward, flinging him away. He staggered backward, long enough for her to bring the ax down, but he’s fast too and sidestepped the glinting blade only to backhand her with the shield as he did.

She could taste the blood filling her mouth as she stumbled back, her only saving grace is the force of his blow made his foot slip in the wet grass, sending him reeling as well. Everything is a slurpy, muddy mess, and rain only continues to fall in sheets around them, stinging her eyes and making it hard to see. 

She spat out the blood pooling in her mouth and shot forward, rammed herself into him, shoulder pauldron first, he stumbled and she continued forward. There isn’t enough room to swing her ax in such close quarters, but it doesn’t stop her from slamming her first into his mouth with all her might. She repressed a wince as her knuckles raked across his teeth, but then the shield slammed into her midsection, making her wretch as her stomach tried to empty itself from the concussive force.

She teetered back several steps, hacking, but she didn't have the time. He quickly righted himself and is coming back for more.

He ran at her, shield held out in front of him like a battering ram, and it's a simple matter for her to dodge out of the way, sweeping a leg under his feet, and the slippery ground does its job. He slid forward into the mud, slamming onto his elbows. Amity quickly swung around, ax raised over her shoulder, and slammed it toward the ground at his exposed back, but he rolled out of the way, abandoning his shield which she quickly kicked out of reach as the marauder scrambled to his feet.

She can hear his ragged breathing even over her own erratic heartbeat as they stare each other down once more.

This time, it’s Amity that charged forward swinging her ax. The sword meets it, blade digging into the shaft just below the metal of the ax head, they’re locked together in a desperate power struggle that will end only one way.

Amity grit her teeth, staring into the darkness of the helm, her opponent's eyes obscured, even as the fire flickered around them, casting dark shadows.

The shaft of her ax groaned under the force.

Her feet are slipping in the mud as she was slowly, but surely, pushed back. He's stronger than her, but Amity pulled everything she had and pushed back harder, the marauder grunted, slipping back from her force.

The sound of splintering, popping wood, filled Amity’s ears. She can see it, the crack spreading through the shaft of her ax, hanging by a thread.

He gave another shove. 

A crack like thunder filled the clearing and Amity went careening forward as the head of her ax snapped from the rest of the shaft and flew off to the side.

What’s left is the splintered end, still clutched tightly in Amity's hand.

It all happened in a matter of seconds, she watched in shock as the double-sided blade flew off into the dark, and then pain.

Cold, sharp pain as her opponent's sword is buried into her chest below her bust.

She choked, inhaling sharply as her knees locked up, shock spiked through her, but she managed to shake it off, she wasn't finished yet, and with a strangled cry, buried the splintered shaft of her ax into her opponent's throat, digging it into the tender flesh with all her remaining strength till she’s sure she’d hit his spin. The grip on the sword went limp, and his mouth hung open as deep, red blood began to bubble and spurt past his lips, hitting her in the face.

He crumpled to the ground, lifeless and Amity staggered back, looking down at the sword buried halfway into her midsection, blood dripping down her torso, a dark stain on her already soaked clothes. 

It hurts, but not as much as she thinks it should, her whole body is going numb.

Her hands hovered around the blade before she managed to grip it, it’s cold, and she knows the blade is cutting into the flash of her palm, but she can’t feel it.

She can’t feel anything.

Lightning flashed and a scream rang out over the rolling, beating drums of thunder and Amity sluggishly looked up, everything was becoming dull and muffled in her ears. She can’t even feel the rain hitting her skin anymore. 

_Oh._

_Luz._

Luz is standing outside the ring of fire, the flames lighting up her horror-filled face. Never has Amity seen such fear and terror in the other woman’s face.

It’s this that finally draws tears from Amity’s eyes.

“I’m sorry…” she choked, blood dripping from her lips as her knees finally gave out and she fell backward into the mud, blood pooling beneath her.

“AMITY!”


	8. Chapter 8

It was pitch black outside and rain continued to fall in torrential sheets, everything was soaked, including Luz. She slipped a few times, falling face-first into the mud a few times as she rushed through the trees, but she ignored it and only pulled herself back to her feet to continue on. She didn’t know exactly where Amity was, but she could feel the pull of her medallion, a steady, nebulous feeling that drew her in a certain direction, so she followed it.

Luz couldn’t feel pain, so she was barely coherent of the branches that slapped at her face and arms as she ran. She had only one thought in her head.

'Find Amity!'

Nothing else mattered, not to her.

She could feel the pull grow stronger and stronger, surely Amity must be close by.

It's only after a few more minutes of running that she can see the dim glow of a fire burning somewhere in the distance in front of her. The closer she got to it the more it took shape, a wall of fire, and on the other side, Amity.

Amity, with a sword buried half through her torso and Luz, thought her heart might have stopped.

The warrior stood there staring down at the blade as though she was surprised to see it and a dead marauder, with the hilt of her ax buried in his throat.

It felt like an eternity before she can get her mouth to move and all she can manage is to scream.

Amity slowly looked up at her, their eyes met and she can see her mouth move but over the pouring rain and the distance between them, she cannot even begin to guess what's been said. 

Then, she falls and Luz is screaming her name and dashing through the fire toward her, it does not so much as tickle her.

"No, no, no!" Luz chanted as she sprinted. She slid onto her knees in the mud at Amity's side.

The jarl is lying flat on her back in the mud, rain still pouring down on them.

Blood is dribbling out the corners of her mouth and her gold, half-lidded eyes are dull and listless, but she's looking up at Luz, unfocussed, but looking at her.

"Amity…," Luz breathed, shaking hands reached out and she carefully pulled her out of the mud and slid her over to recline on some rocks, the sword still jutted out of her chest and Amity wrapped a shaking hand around the blade.  
[](https://ibb.co/X55PyYw)

"I'm… sorry," the warrior sputtered as blood bubbled up over her lips.

"No, no, you don't have anything to be sorry for…," Her voice cracked and her chest squeezed tightly. "You didn't do anything wrong…," her shaky hand finally reached out to cup one of the jarls cheeks. Amity seemed to press closer into it, as her eyes drifted closed, and Luz's chest squeezed ever harder, lips pulled back over her clenched teeth.

Her eyes were burning and water was sliding down her cheeks, but as she leaned down over the quickly dying warrior she realized that it wasn't raining.

They were tears.

It's with this sudden realization that Luz came to understand something she had always thought would be beyond her.

Pain.

It’s so sharp and visceral in her chest that it made her breathing shallow, it constricts her chest and throat, and more tears dripped down her cheeks like the torrentially pouring rain around them.

Luz had never cried before this moment.

She was the god of light and joy, one who cannot feel pain. How does one shed tears when they have never felt sorrow in such measure?

The invulnerability bestowed upon her by her mother as a baby had protected her from fire and cold and blades, all her life it had protected her from all worldly pain.

Until now.

She had never cared about anything the way she cared for Amity, so nothing had ever touched her this way before, so deep that it made her feel in a way that was thought impossible.

She hated it, hated it, with a passion she had always thought beyond her.

She now understood with crystal clarity, all the life long aversion to pain that all other 

"Amity…," Luz choked out. She can barely breathe, pain clamped around her heart in a white-knuckled stranglehold. 

[](https://ibb.co/RYDfMQB)

From between her blood coated lips she managed to mumble: "It's okay, they're coming..." followed by something much more garbled by blood that sounded vaguely like ‘I love you’, as the corners of her lips ticked upward in a bloody smile, then, the rise and fall of her chest stopped.

No, no, nothing, absolutely nothing about this was okay, and who was coming?!

What was she talking about, what could be so important as to waste some of her last breath on it? Her brows furrowed in frantic thinking.

It took her a moment longer to realize that the rain had stopped, not slowed, or was drizzling, stopped, and a golden light had started to shine through the clouds

Luz froze as she realized exactly what was happening. She didn’t need to turn around to see, but she did, and sure enough, the sky had opened up and three large winged horses in plate armor were making their way toward them, ridden by three equally armored and cloaked women. 

The Valkyries.

Luz cursed under her breath the moment her eyes landed on them. She could stop this, and she was going to, but she really wished that Amity hadn't had to find out this way, this wasn’t at all how she had wanted this to go! 

Luz grit her teeth and grabbed the sword.

"I hope you can forgive me for all of this, Amity," She mumbled the last part as she ripped the sword free from the warrior’s lifeless body. 

Luz quickly pressed her right hand over the wound and tried not to wince at the feeling of Amity's still warm, sticky blood between her fingers.

"Jarl Amity of Boneshaven, I’ve chosen you to be my champion. Until your last breath leaves you again, may you be a harbinger of light." Her eyes glowed brightly, the light quickly spread to the rest of her form, including the hand pressed tightly over Amity's wound.

The warrior's body was engulfed in light.

Amity hissed between clenched, bloody teeth, eyes shooting open, there's an unimaginable jolt of pain, but as quickly as it began, the pain vanished and she no longer hurt.

When the glowing finally subsided, Luz pulled back her hand, and there, over the freshly scarred overwound, as though branded into her skin, is the sigil of light.

Amity was now her champion, for better or for worse.

She hadn’t healed Amity per se, technically, the warrior had died, by using her limited power over death she'd been able to subvert it, All gods could, for a mortal, but only one time. These were the rules after some of the other Aesir had continuously breathed life into their favorite champions for the sole purpose of amassing greater worship, like her nephew.

A mortal could be brought back from the dead only once. The next time Amity left this world would be the last time.

"L-Luz? What… what happened, I thought I…," she trailed off and looked down to see the sigil of light newly branded into her skin, and her eyes widened. "What… I don't understand…," her voice was thick, mouth still full of blood. 

Luz winced, looking away, she had a lot to answer for, but first things were first.

She still had the Valkyries to deal with.

"I'll explain it all soon… I promise," Her voice was raw and thick, even in her own ears as she stood and turned around to face them.

Once they're close enough, she knows them. Her sister is closely associated with the Valkyries, and Luz had met all of them at one point or another.

The three approaching now are especially familiar to her as they land, their golden plated armor making quiet clinking noises when they stand before her.

Skara, Kat, and Amelia, close friends of her sisters, or at least as close to friends as her sister can get, the god of strength, thunder, and storms was not the easiest person to get along with most of the time. 

Luz straightened her back and put on her most authoritative voice, one she certainly didn’t usually like to use.

"You cannot have this one!" she declared, holding up a hand, and the three looked at her, their faces quickly turned surprised when they realized just who was standing before them, soaked and covered in mud, looking far less than godly. 

"Well, I have to say I'm surprised to see you here, Luz." Skara said, gently pulling back on the reigns of the winged horse as it pawed at the muddy ground. "Don't usually find the god of light and joy on a battlefield," she admitted.

Amity is still coming up to speed. The last thing she knew had been the cold of the rain and the pain as she’d been run through on a short sword, Luz leaning over her, tears dripping down her face. Everything around her had seemed blurry and distant, muffled in her ears and then, it had all been black, but only it had only for what seemed like a second before a searing pain made her eyes slam open. It vanished as quickly as it had come and she was awake again, gasping for breath and looking up at Luz, who looked relieved but also worried as she stood to face the approaching mounted warriors.

Luz could see them? Only the dead and the gods were supposedly able to see the Asgardian warriors who shepherded the dead to Valhalla. 

One of them called out to Luz and Amity choked on the air in her lungs.

The god of light

No

No, that couldn’t be true, after all this time, that had to be a mistake, but she knew it wasn't by the conversation that followed.

“You’ve never shown anything more than a passing interest in mortals, unlike your siblings,” Amelia laughed. “What makes this one so special?” The three are looking at Luz, full of curiosity at what the light god will say. Luz had always been well known for her general disinterest in mortals or their daily lives after all.

“This one is my champion, I restored her life, you can’t have her!” Luz growled, eyes glowing and the valkyries’ first instinct is to take a step back from the obviously irritated god, eyes wide. 

“No need for all that.” Skara held up a hand, hoping to placate her. An irritated god, no matter how normally docile, is the last thing any of them want.

“The god of light has chosen a mortal to champion her at long last, and what an interesting choice she has made,” Kat looked at Amity over the light gods shoulder “Your father will be most interested to hear that,” she hummed, looking more than a little interested herself.

Luz only continued to scowl at them.

“Well, the god of light has decreed the mortal is hers, and she lives, so we’ll honor her wishes, we’re through here.” Skara declared, looking at the other two as if daring them to say another word, they didn’t. “There are others to collect back in her village, farewell, Luz.” Skara nodded and the other two followed suit before the horses took off again in a great burst of wind as their wings gave a mighty flap, then they're gone and the golden light went with them.

Luz watched them, longer than necessary, she’s stalling and she knows it. The fire had gone out and its growing dark, Luz held up a hand, and light burst into the air in the form of little floating orbs.

Now she had to face Amity, she took a deep breath and turned around.

Amity was staring up at her from the ground with wide eyes, still trying to process everything that had just happened, but her mind stalled further as she looked up at Luz, her eyes glowed with a bright, incandescent light as she looked down at her.

Luz knelt down beside her and frowned, glowing eyes roaming over her form, she had healed her worst injuries, but not all of them. Healing wasn’t really one of Luz’s abilities.

“I hope you can forgive the deception… my champion.”

~ ~

Getting Amity home does not go at all how Luz had hoped it would, that seemed to be a recurring theme for her tonight.

She’s still injured, so Luz scooped her up into her arms as though she were weightless and carried her back to the village, orbs of light guided the way.

At first Amity is still speechless, looking at her with shock, but halfway back she seemed to finally come to grips with everything that had happened tonight.

“Put me down,” she said quietly.

“You’re hurt, Amity, you shouldn’t…”

“Put me down, Luz, if that even is your name!” She struggled in Luz’s grip and it was surprise and hurt more than anything that made Luz let go, nearly dropping the jarl to the ground. Amity scrambled away, wincing at the pain in her ribs.

“Who even are you!” she demanded with a pained growl, holding herself up against a tree.

That cut at Luz’s heart.

“You know who I am…” she started, the hurt is palpable but Amity will hear none of it right now. 

“Clearly I don’t!” Amity barked, glaring at her. Luz’s face was painted with the hurt she felt at that, and somewhere deep inside, beneath her own hurt and anger, Amity was a little glad, maybe right now Luz had even an inkling of how she was feeling, coming to the realization that someone so dear to her heart had been lying to her. Luz bit her lip, not sure what to say, all she ccould think of was what she should have said from the start, the truth. 

“I’m Luz of Asgard, youngest born of the allfather… I’m the god of light,” she said, frowning.

Amity’s fingers dug into the bark of the tree, it was all she could do right now to stay standing, her side burned, she’s almost certain one of her ribs was cracked, if not broken, now a bright pain was welling up inside her chest. Luz had lied to her, had been lying for so long, Luz was her patron! 

Her body trembled. Her mortal wound may have been healed but she was still very much exhausted and her knee’s buckled, sending her back down into the mud.

Luz lunged forward, arms out, but Amity flinched away, making the god freeze.

“Don’t touch me!” she snarled. 

Luz’s introduction to pain is a never-ending one it seemed. Her chest was so tight, she could hardly breathe.

“Amity… please, you’re still hurt, I couldn’t fix it all…let me take you home,” she pleaded, but Amity won’t look at her, and her breath is shallow from the pain of sitting hunched over in the mud. 

Luz’s fists clenched. She doesn’t want to do this, and It was only going to make the jarl all the angrier, but Amity hadn't left her any choice. Luz will not leave her out here, injured in the dark. 

She steeled herself and stepped forward, Amity flinched, about to yell at her again but Luz didn't care, she scooped Amity up in her arms and sure enough, the jarl began to yell and push at her, trying to wriggle out of her grasp.

“I said don’t touch me, put me down, Luz!” she all but screamed in the god's ear, but Luz only squeezed her tighter to her and Amity yelped at the pressure on her injuries and Luz winced, but didn’t relent.

“I’m sorry…,” she said as she walked quickly through the woods back toward the village. Amity scowled, and refused to look at her but didn’t struggle any more when Luz proved that she would only hold her all the tighter. There was no use trying to put up any fight against a god.

The fires around the village had all been put out and it seemed the rest of the marauders had been dispatched by the victorious Boneshaven warriors, who were hauling their enemies dead bodies outside the gates, after picking them clean of anything and everything that could be of use to them, the spoils of war. 

Luz carefully went around all the people of the village as she made her way to the jarl’s home. Boscha and Willow though did see her.

“Amity!” Willow darted forward but was stopped by Boscha’s hand on her shoulder. Willow blinked at the storm god over her shoulder and she just shook her head, eyes narrowed at the two as they vanished inside Amity’s home. 

“Something’s happened, your jarl doesn't look happy with my sister at all, leave them be,” she said and Willow frowned, she had a fairly good idea about what had happened. 

“I better wait to tell the twins that she’s back then, nothing would stop them from bursting in there,” she mumbled.

Luz laid the jarl on her bed and, hesitant at first, went about tending to the rest of her wounds, cleaning and dressing them.

Amity allowed it, but said nothing and wouldn't so much as look at Luz. The air in the home was tense and heavy with thick silence and awkwardness, awkward on Luz’s part anyway. She could feel the anger coming off Amity in waves. She doesn’t know what to do with herself when Amity won’t even acknowledge her existence.

Luz sighed to herself as she knelt beside the bed, looking at Amity’s back as she faced away from her. She chewed her lip, thinking. There was still so much to say, but where to even start?

“I didn’t want to deceive you, Amity…,” Luz mumbled after a long silence, Amity still won’t look at her, she only continued to lay silently in bed, facing away from Luz, who had finally finished dressing her wounds. 

She felt so betrayed, stung. She was madly, truly in love with this woman, but she was no woman, she was a god, one of flesh and bone; her god.

The god of light and summer, Baldur. My, how wrong did mortals get that! The tales of a tall, fair-haired man with eyes the color of the sky couldn’t be more wrong. Instead, the incandescent one is a woman, still tall, but her eyes, skin, and hair are dark, warm almost; which is fitting when she thought about it.

For so long now, Luz had been telling half-truths and hiding what she really was from Amity, but her biggest question is this: why?

Why had Luz done this to her? She’d always been told stories of the devious machinations of the gods, but never before had she believed that hers’, that the god of light and joy could do this, would do this to her. 

“Please speak to me, Amity…,” Luz was pleading, begging, and it seemed wholly unfit for a god to beg, especially one of her own adherents, so she spoke.

"Was this just some game to play with the naive mortal?" Amity bit out at her, she was still very much angry, but now more than anything, she was just exhausted, and her chest ached, a pain greater than when she had been run through with the sword shot through her chest. She pressed her fisted hands over her heart.

Luz flinched at the words, and horror spread through her.

"No, No! Please listen to me, let me explain!" she begged. 

Amity didn’t have the strength or will to answer, but she did want to hear what the deity would say. 

Amity said nothing, so Luz took this as her permission to continue. "Mortal warriors have never chosen me as their patron, not over my sister or brother… so when I began hearing about you, I got curious…," she started and still Amity said nothing. "What kind of warrior chooses light over strength or war? I wanted to see for myself," She trailed off for a minute and wished so hard Amity would say something to her, but she remained silent, so Luz went on. "I… started to really like you, Amity... you're strong and brave, you fight so fiercely and protect everyone, but you're also so kind and caring. I watched from the forest… watched you laughing and playing with the village children. You’re beautiful and being with you... being with you made me happy... you made it so easy to fall in love with you," she finally said. 

Amity choked back her tears and bit her lip hard enough to draw blood.

"I didn't mean to lie to you this long, I just wanted to get to know you without all the worship or devotion stuff… I wanted to know you...and then I wanted you to know me, not the god... but me." Luz chewed on her lip. Amity was still laying faced away from her and saying nothing, though she could see the slight trembling in her body. "Please, Amity…," Luz begged. "Please say something!" she pleaded. She may have been a god, but she didn't care what her siblings might say to her at this moment, Luz would beg, she would beg and crawl and plead if only to get this woman who holds her heart so tightly in her hands to say something to her, anything!

Amity's teeth were grit together painfully, tears burning behind her eyes, on the verge of spilling out, and she couldn't stop the rising tide of emotions within as Luz knelt behind her at her bedside, begging her to speak, so she will.

"I don't know you…," she finally croaked out, and it cut Luz straight to the core in a way nothing ever had before. "Everything we have is based on a lie…" 

"No, it's not, I-" Luz started, but Amity wasn't done.

"I love you!" Amity's pain-filled shout was loud and cracking and agony in Luz's ears. "I love you… and it was all a lie…," her voice cracked, petering out to a whisper and Luz could feel her heart cracking right along with it as she heard Amity begin to cry. A sound that tore at her heart so painfully she could hardly speak.

"No, Amity! Please, just listen to me for one moment…," Luz jumped, voice squeaking, desperately trying to make her understand. Tears are once again welling up in her own eyes as anguish tears at her chest.

"Why? So you can spout more convenient lies?!" She bit out. Luz is shocked to silence by the absolute anger and bitterness in her voice.

"No, I didn't want to lie, and I never wanted to hurt you! Amity, I-,"

Amity couldn’t listen anymore.

"Leave…," Amity finally broke and sobbed, curling further into herself on the bed. Her chest ached much more than her wounds ever could. "Just go!" she cried as tears began to fall unrestrained, making her body shake, and how badly Luz wanted to hold her. "Go back to where you came from and leave me alone!" She bit out, though it was diminished some by the sobbing and tears.

Luz hesitated, she wanted so badly to hold her and make all her pain go away, but Amity wouldn't let her, wouldn’t let her say another word. There was nothing to be said if Amity wouldn't listen to her, but more than that, Luz would do anything for this woman, and she wanted her to leave.

So leave she would.

Luz quietly stood, and on numb legs made her way to the longhouse door. She paused in the doorway, glancing at the jarl over her shoulder, body shaking silently with her tears.

"It wasn't all a lie," she couldn't help but finally say, "I do love you, Amity; that is the truth," she said, and then she was gone, out the door and into the night.

Amity only sobbed harder, curled up under the blankets.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How we feeling????!


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Good Monday Morning to you All! Enjoy

She doesn't know what day it is anymore. 

They all blur together in the same, slow, dull, and monotonous series of events. She performed her duties, saw to the people, and made her rounds around the village with a new ax, not nearly as good as her old one, but it did the job. She missed her old ax, but it was now in pieces and she’d left the shaft where it lay, buried in the dead marauder's throat.

The village just seemed so dull to her lately. It was like the joy had been sucked out of her life and she was only a husk of who she'd been before. She knew why of course, knew that perhaps with Luz's departure from her side all the joy really had left her life. She may not have known what day it was, but she knew it had been around a month and a half since she had banished the lying god of light from her side.

And each one of those days had hurt.

She'd spent the first fortnight absolutely furious at Luz, going over all the things that now made so much more sense to her. Why the cold didn’t bother her, nor the heat, wrestling wild animals with her bare hands and a host of other little things that had never quite made sense before but she had been too blind to really look closely at. 

She felt so stupid, how could she have missed all those signs? 

It was shortly after those first days that things had started to appear around her home. First, it was some very familiar-looking flowers - magenta, with vein-like black lines running through their petals sitting outside her door. The sight of them made her heart ache and she gave them to Willow, who by the look on her face also knew where they had come from. The herbalist never spoke of Luz because Amity didn’t, and she had banished the gods from the village, all of them. Luz, Boscha, Hooty, and Gus, despite her sibling's initial, weak protests at their patron gods banishment. 

Boscha was still seen occasionally, but she was careful not to let Amity see her. Willow told her the only reason she wasn’t just tearing down the gate and doing as she pleased was that her sister had forbidden it, and she had threatened her as well.

She wasn’t sure if it was the famous hammer-wielding god or if Luz was sneaking into the village at night, but every few nights flowers of varying kinds appeared on her doorstep in a plethora of rainbow colors and sizes. They were beautiful, and more than once they made her eyes water. 

Then, the night of the summer solstice had come. The longest day of the year and in Boneshaven, which had become the center of worship to the light god whose day they celebrated, everything was lit brightly long into the night. People from all across the region had traveled to her village to take part in the all night long feasting and revelry.

Amity watched from afar after making her brief but necessary appearance. She couldn’t find it in herself to celebrate, not after the god of light had injured her so. The people of Boneshaven and their neighbors were still loud and devout followers of the god of joy and light, and their victories in battle were still dedicated to the shepherd of the summer sun, though Amity herself no longer gave voice to that. To say her feelings were mixed was an understatement.

She still believed strongly in the importance of everything Luz did for Midgard, but her current personal feelings colored her opinions toward it all.

She watched the revelry downhill from her home, sitting atop a mead barrel she was slowly making her way through. This marked the beginning of her twenty-first summer, but nothing about it felt special, she just felt empty and tired. She didn’t sleep as well as she used to, she was still waking up in the middle of the night and reaching out for a body that wasn’t there anymore.

She sighed and ran a hand through her hair and took another long drink from the flagon in her grip. 

“Amity?” 

She looked up to see Willow approaching, Boscha following along behind her and her eyes narrowed.

“What is she doing here?” she grumbled under her breath and Willow frowned, though she looked more concerned than anything.

Boscha scowled at the jarl.

“Listen to me, mortal, I’m not going to pretend to understand whatever’s going on between the two of you, and whatever you said that has her hiding from the world and us, but don’t think to speak to me as you do to my sister,” Boscha growled eyes taking on a faint glow. 

There was just enough mead flowing through her to prompt Amity to hop off the barrel and stand defiantly in front of the god of storms. 

“Boscha,” Willow laid a gentle hand on the redhead's arm. She glanced down at her and scoffed. 

“I only came at Luz’s request to deliver this.” 

It was only now that Amity took notice of the long, cloth-wrapped bundle in the god’s arms as it was thrust into her own.

It was heavy and she almost dropped it. She blinked down at it and curiosity finally got the better of her and she pulled away the cloth, and what she held in her hands, was an ax.

This one was double-sided, much like her old one, but unlike her old one which had two mirrored heads on either side and a shaft of wood, this one was different.

This one was solid metal, yet it probably weighed about the same as her old one. It had a little crook in the pommel and the leather-wrapped around the bottom half of the shaft was smooth and soft, trailing to a length of shaft up to the head that featured deep carvings of intricate and delicate knots before coming to the heads. One was the long, wickedly curved head she was used to, with yet more knots engraved upon it. The other side was long and straight with a single angle at the bottom where it attached to the shaft.

It was beautiful, and the finest craftsmanship she had ever seen.

What made her heart ache was the sigil of light engraved in gold, dead center where the two heads became one. Her grip around it tightened and tears burned her eyes as pain seared through her whole being.

“I… I can’t accept this, take it back to her!” she thrust the ax back out to the god of storms, who only crossed her arms and scowled.

“I’m no courier, if you want to give it back then give it to her yourself…,” she snorted, turning up her nose and turned to walk back down the hill, but before she could get very far Amity was yelling at her turned back.

“Then tell her to stop!” she cried as tears began to drip from the corner of her eyes. “Tell her no more flowers or gifts, I don't want anything from her!” she choked and turned to run into her home, slamming the door behind her. 

“Amity!” Willow called but the door slammed shut before she could say anything else.

She slammed the ax down on her shoddy wooden table and did her best to choke back a sob as she crawled into bed.

~ ~

Boscha must have delivered her message because in the weeks that followed no more gifts came and it got quiet again, though she did see Willow disappear into the forest with a certain redhead quite often.

Things were not going well though.

They were in the hottest days of summer, or at least they should have been, yet it was growing colder by the day. The crops that had been flourishing had begun to droop. Morale was low and the people had begun to murmur that it was the end of days, that the waning of light was a sure sign of Ragnarok. She couldn’t begin to guess what was happening, it was obvious she knew nothing about the god of light. 

It seemed like it was getting darker much quicker than it should have with each day that went by. Amity continued to ignore the ax and the medallion sitting on her table. She couldn’t even bring herself to move them and busied herself with work around the village and calming the hysteria as the village wondered what it would do for the winter. 

She wasn’t doing the best job at taking care of herself anymore either. The twins tried, they visited her often, and Willow had explained to them with Boscha as proof what had been going on. They were trying to be supportive, but it was obvious they didn’t know what to say to begin helping her through this; she appreciated that and she loved the two of them very much.

Willow too had taken it upon herself to check up on the jarl and make sure she was eating. It was on one such visit that Amity had forgotten to cover up the table from sight and the herbalist quickly noticed the ax and the medallion.

“You still have this?” Willow asked, picking up the medallion bearing the sigil of the god of light. Amity looked up and flinched at what she was holding.

When she’d first realized she’d still been wearing it after Luz had gone, she’d been down by the river, she’d ripped it off and flung back her arm to chunk it into the water, but something stopped her. No matter how much thinking of Luz hurt, she just couldn’t do it. She couldn’t bring herself to let it go, but she couldn’t put it back on either. So it sat on her table, she would look at it every day, but couldn’t bear to be rid of it. 

“Yeah,… I should… do something with it…,” she mumbled and Willow hummed.

“I can give it to Boscha to return to her, these medallions are important to them if you're not going to keep it… she probably would want it back,” she suggested, looking over at Amity, who wouldn’t look her in the eye. 

“If it was so important, why would she give it to me?” she mumbled bitterly and Willow frowned, she had kept her mouth shut for the most part about all of this, but after talking to the god of storms about how Luz was doing and how depressed she sounded, and Amity was, she couldn’t keep quiet anymore.

“Look Amity, I don’t know if you really think that, or if it’s just easier to pretend Luz doesn’t love you,” she finally said the forbidden name, and Amity flinched again. “But they get one of these medallions their whole lives, from Odin, and bequeath them to a person they intend to stay with or marry.”

Amity sucked in a sharp breath at that, but Willow plowed on.

“Yes, she lied, about herself and thus several things, and she hurt you, you know that and she knows that, but you can’t just pretend that her feelings, or yours, weren’t real to try and get over it or stay mad at her. This is proof that she loved you, and I know you still love her too.” 

Amity clenched her eyes shut, water prickling at the edges.

She knew that of course, she did. She had hoped it would make it hurt a little less, to pretend, but it didn’t. It hurt so much, knowing that Luz really did love her, but had lied to her anyway.

She loved the god too, though she wished she could stop, make the pain go away rather than having to work through it, but she can’t. Her heart just wouldn’t let go, but she doesn’t know how she can forgive either.

“I do still love her…, but I don’t know what was real and what wasn’t! How can I trust her again?” she finally turned to look at Willow, eyes glassy with unshed tears. The herbalist had no answer for that

She left the medallion on the table.

~ ~

It was nearly two months since she had banished Luz from her life, and she hated every minute of it. She’d been thinking long and hard about what Willow had said to her, and she was right.

She did still love Luz. 

If she didn’t this wouldn’t hurt the way it did, stabbing at her chest every day, never lessening as it should have. She had to find a way to look past her hurt first, to mend what had been broken, but the only way to do that was to talk to Luz.

She sighed to herself as she stepped out of her home, and where there should have been the hot and heavily oppressive air of the height of summer, an icy cold wind buffeted her and she blinked, surely she was seeing things, but no, snowflakes were drifting slowly downward from the sky.

“Snow?” Amity blinked up at the sky, where flakes fell from the heavens to the ground below, in late summer. 

“Light is missing, and without the summer sun, winter is coming early,” A voice startled her and she turned and found the god of strength and thunder leaning against her home with Willow at her side, making her scowl angrily. She was in no mood for more divine beings, not today. She’d been hurting all week, thinking of Luz and what she should do - to see her sister strengthens the pain.

“What part of ‘banished’ don’t you understand?” Amity spat at the redheaded god.

Boscha’s initial reaction is to strike the mortal down for her glib tongue, but she knows that would only anger Willow and her sister, so she held her own tongue and instead carried on with the reason she was there. Willow’s hand on her shoulder helped reel her back in. 

“Don’t worry, I’m leaving soon, but no one’s seen Luz in over a moon cycle, not our parents, not the other Aesir and not even King, light is growing dimmer everyday and no one knows where she is… we’re all worried... have you seen her?” Boscha turned to face her and Amity could see the worry in her face.

She frowned at that. Luz was missing? Despite her still hurt feelings, that made worry bubble up in her stomach. She was still mad… no, that wasn’t true, the anger was long gone, what was left was pain and longing. She was hurt, but despite that, she still loved the woman, she had accepted that, and would never wish anything bad to happen to her, so knowing that Luz couldn’t be found made her stomach churn.

“I haven't seen her since she left here,” she said and Boscha scowled to herself.

“Where are you little sister?” she grumbled, then turned and mumbled something to Willow, who nodded and pressed a kiss to the god's cheek, then there was a gust of wind and a peal of thunder from the snowy sky that made both mortals close their eyes against it and when they opened them again, the god of thunder was gone.

“She’s really worried…” Willow frowned. “Luz vanished right after she delivered your message…” 

Amity pursed her lips, stomach-dropping into her feet at that. 

No one had seen Luz, and even the other gods couldn’t find her. What if she were hurt, or worse? 

Her firsts clenched at her sides.

“I’m going to go look for her,” she announced, turning and heading back inside her home. 

“What?!” Willow said as she followed her inside.

“I’m going to go look for her,” she repeated as she pulled on her shoulder pauldron, strapping it across her chest.

“If the other gods can’t even find her then how are you supposed to?” Willow crossed her arms and leveled her with a serious look.

“I don’t know… but I need to try… I…” she paused and behind her Willow sighed.

“I know… just be careful, if something happened to her, something strong enough to take her down, you’d be no match for it, Amity,” she advised. 

Amity glanced at her table and the ax and medallion glinted at her. She crossed the room to them in a few quick strides and pulled the medallion over her head, its familiar weight settled on her chest over her heart and it felt right, its warmth a temporary balm on some of her hurt. She now knew it’s warmth wasn’t from being on Luz’s skin, it was whatever magical properties the metal itself possessed from the god.

She slipped it beneath her tunic and grabbed the ax off the table, it felt good and solid in her hands, just as the last time she had held it, but when she picked it up she swore the golden sigil gave a faint shine, but then it was gone.

“I’ll be back…,” she said as she walked past Willow out the door. “Watch things until I get back.”

“Good luck!” she called to the jarl as she quickly left the village. 

Amity was scouring her mind for places the god could be and her first instinct was to check the first place they had met, Luz’s temple.

The construction on it had finished some time ago and had been quite busy for a while, till the last few weeks, as the unnatural cold had begun to set in and it got darker earlier and earlier. The temple had all but been abandoned by those who had been devout followers of the light until recently. 

The temple was empty today as well, it’s insides were dark and torches long cold, no one had been here in some time. 

She trekked through the forests next, cold wind buffeting at her furs as she checked the places the two of them had liked to spend time together away from the village, but she found nothing, at least, not much.

Near the river, there was a cave that they had hidden in together a few times, hardly a cave at all, more a large concave area in the rocks that was deep enough to shelter them from the weather.

Inside she found definitive traces that Luz had been there. There was a torn piece of violet-colored material. A hard to make color and Amity had only ever known one person with a cloak or rich violet. 

Luz had been here, maybe before she had disappeared.

Her lips pursed, she suddenly remembered another cave. 

It was a couple of hours away, but she couldn’t think of anywhere else to check.

She didn’t waste any time heading toward the northern forest.

It was already getting dark by the time she arrived, the towering tree in bright, full, bloom of pristine pink leaves.

Amity saw this place in a whole new light now. The tree was giant, ancient, with thick, gnarled roots that stretch far in every direction.

Luz had said she was born here, and if that was true, that meant this place was far older than Amity had ever thought, ancient in fact. It also explained the reverent, magical feeling around it.

It was the literal birthplace of a god.

She approached the opening of the cavern between the tangle of roots and stopped.

She had forgotten about the darkness of the cavern, and had no flint in her bag.

She cursed under her breath as she stood in the mouth of the cave, peering into the darkness.

She grit her teeth and took a half step forward, but stopped. 

She couldn't, she couldn't do it; anything but the dark.

She could say beyond a shadow of a doubt she could and would fight to the death, but the dark… Why was it always dark?

She took a deep breath.

She needed to find Luz.

She had done it before, in this very place, she had put out that torch because she trusted Luz.

Trust

Her fingers dug into the cold stone of the cavern's entrance.

That was the rub here, wasn’t it? She’d trusted Luz and been hurt. She stared into the impenetrable darkness of the cavern and couldn’t help but think of the last time she had been here. 

Luz had told the truth then though, hadn’t she? Nothing bad had happened to her, just as she said.

How much of what she knew about the god was true and what was false?

She needed to know, and only the god herself could provide answers, but Amity had to find her first.

She steeled herself and entered the cavern. The waning sunlight at her back carried her through for a distance but became fainter and fainter with every step she took until she was standing in the dark, and as it had so many times before, fear was clawing its way up her throat.

She took a deep, but shaky breath trying to force the panic down. She could do this, there was light at the bottom of this shaft, she knew that to be a fact, but knowing didn't seem to help her much. 

Her hands-on the stone was the only thing keeping her grounded as her breath came out increasingly shallower.

It had been nearly three years, why was this still so hard!? 

She couldn't even turn back now if she wanted to, her knees are locked up, refusing to move forward or back.

"Shit!" She hissed between clenched teeth.

She's certain her knees are about to buckle when a faint light begins to brighten the darkness, she wasn't sure it was actually there or not at first, however, slowly, but surely the tunnel is alight with a faint, warm glow that washed away her crippling fear with its incandescence. 

Turning, she found the source.

The golden inlaid sigil for light engraved on the head of her ax was glowing in the darkness and Amity's chest tightened almost painfully at the sight as she again, wondered just how much had been true between them. Obviously, this had been an intentional design by Luz, knowing of Amity's fear.

Her resolve to find the missing god hardened and she continued down the tunnel leading deeper and deeper into the earth.

When she reached the bottom she could see the bright blue glow coming from the crystals inside the lake and the sigil on her ax went dark.

She glanced around and froze when her eyes landed on a familiar figure sitting on a rock next to the water.

Luz

She sat, facing the water and in her hands, an arrow. Her fingers prodded gently at the tip as she played with it.

The glow from the crystals lit the cavern up enough that she can easily make out the features of her face.

She was staring down at the arrow with a slackened face, frowning morosely. 

She looked the same as the last time she had seen her, only she looked sadder, Amity could relate. 

She stepped fully into the cavern, her movement disturbing the stillness in the air and causing a quiet shuffling sound that made Luz sit up and look.

Her face was a mask of shock as she stared back at the jarl.

“Amity…,” She breathed quietly, but in the quiet of the cavern, it may as well have been a yell. She stood and made to take a step forward, but seemed to think better of it and stayed where she was. “What… what are you doing here?” she asked, voice barely above a whisper.

Amity swallowed, she was finally standing in front of her and she had so much to say earlier, but she could think of none of it now.

“Looking for you,” she finally managed to spit out. 

“Me?” Luz repeated, voice lilting higher, colored with disbelief.

“Boscha came looking for you, she said you’d been missing. Your family is worried about you…,” she trailed off and Luz frowned, looking down at the ground in front of her. Amity hesitated as more words rushed to the tip of her tongue and spilled past her lips unbidden. “I... was worried about you,” she admitted.

“You were?” Luz asked hopefully, looking up at her from across the cavern. Amity inhaled sharply through her nose and crossed the short distance to stand in front of the tall god, who was looking down at her with equal parts hope and fear. 

“Yes, I was worried something had happened to you…” she turned her gaze anywhere but those intense brown eyes and they stood there in a long, tense silence, neither knowing quite what else to say to the other. 

“I’m sorry,” Luz said suddenly, prompting Amity’s gaze to lock onto her again. 

“Wh-” 

“I’m sorry for everything,” Luz’s voice is tight. “I never meant for it to go on that long… I never wanted to hurt you…,” she choked as tears began to gather in the corners of her eyes. “I just… I wanted you to know me and by the time you did I realized how long it had been going on, and then I was afraid of how you would react when I finally told you who I actually was and I…,” she hiccuped as her tears began to drip down her cheeks. “I… I love you, Amity, I never wanted this, but I know it’s all my fault.” she’s now all but sobbing and Amity doesn’t know what to say or do. She wants to comfort her but is held back.

“Ugh, and I hate this!” she scowled, rubbing furiously at her dripping eyes. “This is only the second time it’s happened and I hate it…!” she grumbled to herself under her breath.

It took Amity a moment to figure out what she must be talking about.

"You… this is only the second time you've ever cried?" She asked in disbelief. Luz sniffled but nodded.

"The first time was when you… when you..." she trailed off, not wanting to finish that sentence.

"Those are the only two times in your entire life you've cried?” Amity blinked in surprise. 

“I’m the god of joy…,” Luz sniffled. “Nothing’s ever hurt me that way before…,” she mumbled morosely. 

Something about that made Amity’s heart do funny things in her chest cavity, but she pushed it down for now.

"Luz... It's snowing outside…," she said and the god blinked away her tears.

"What?" She looked surprised at that.

"Boscha said no one had heard from you in over a month... and since you disappeared summer is ending."

"I didn't realize I'd been down here that long…," she mumbled, glancing away.

"People have stopped believing in you... they think you've abandoned them…," she said and Luz flinched at that. "Why were you down here?"

Luz frowned and turned her head away.

"My sister told me what you said, and I realized nothing I could do would fix this, so… I just wanted to be alone for a while." She shrugged, fist clenched around the arrow shaft in her hand. 

"The mortals need you, and your family misses you," Amity told her and Luz sighed. How badly did she wish to add herself to that list, but she held her tongue.

“Right… I should go and finish the summer before I cause Ragnarok…,” she mumbled glumly.

“Boscha would like to know you’re alive too…,” she added and Luz nodded but made no move to go. Amity knew that face, she wanted to say something. 

“What about… us?” Luz asked cautiously. Amity’s hands clenched. “Is… is there nothing I can do to make this up to you, to fix it? I… I’ll do anything you ask of me,” she pleaded.

Amity pursed her lips thoughtfully, preparing herself. She’d been thinking long and hard about this and had made a decision. 

“I don’t want anything from you, Luz…,” she said with finality, and Luz deflated before her eyes, but nodded solemnly.

“I understand…,” she started, only for Amity to cut her off.

“But…”

“But?” Luz blinked at her, trying not to get her hopes up.

“If... you would want to… I want us to start over, try again, fresh, but…,” she hesitated.

“But?” Luz again prompted, desperately. 

“You hurt me, Luz. More than anyone who's ever taken a sword or ax to my flesh… you cut my heart open… it's going to take time for me to trust you again, and we can’t have a relationship without trust. You broke mine from the start, how can I trust you again?” It wasn’t rhetorical, Amity genuinely wanted the god to answer because she herself didn’t know. 

“I’ll do better, I will! No more lies, ever, I promise!” Luz quickly assured her, but Amity did not look comforted by this in the slightest, if anything she only looked more pained. 

“Do you remember when I told you about my parents?” she asked, looking up at Luz, who blinked at the very sudden question.

“Of course…,” is all she said, giving a nod.

“For a long time… before they did what they did… they lied to me,” she said, and Luz froze. “They lied to me constantly… told me, never again… no more barring me in the dark… no more beatings…If I could do better it would stop, and I trusted them, believed them,… and it was always, always, a lie,” she hissed between clenched teeth, turning her head away. 

Luz wanted to throw up.

“When I realized you’d been lying to me… I… I felt so betrayed all over again... how can I know that you won’t again… I need more than words, Luz. I want us to be together again, I want to trust you again, I want to love you, but you have to prove to me, somehow, that I can!” Amity clenched her fists at her sides as she looked up at her.

They stood there in loaded silence for some time, eyes locked. Luz fiddled with the wooden arrow, trying to think of some way to prove herself to Amity when a thought came to her. Her mother had warned her to keep this particular secret always, but she knew she could trust Amity, and what better way to prove the jarl’s trust in her was not misplaced this time by sharing her own, most well-guarded secret?

“What if… I entrusted you with something important to me, and I don’t mean a physical item, but a secret, something only I and my mother know?” she asked and Amity looked up at her curiously.

“What kind of secret could you have that could prove your trustworthiness to me?” she asked.

“I’ll show you,… stab me.”

“What?!” she yelped.

“Your dagger, stab me,” she repeated.

“I- I’m not going to stab you!” Amity barked. Luz rolled her eyes and grabbed the hilt off Amity’s belt before she could react and turned it on herself.

“Luz!” Amity screamed, lunging forward as she plunged it into her chest, but she stopped, blinking as Luz pulled it free and the hole closed up, spilling not a drop of blood, leaving clear, unblemished skin peeking through the hole in her tunic. 

“I’m invulnerable,” Luz said, holding out the dagger to her. “Go ahead,” she prompted. “It might make you feel better to stab me too,” she offered and Amity frowned, taking back the dagger.

“I don’t wanna stab you, Luz. I’m not interested in hurting you back, I believe you… are all of the gods this way?” she looked confused.

“No, when I was born my mother had a vision of my death, and she secured an oath from all things that they would never do me harm,” she explained. “Except for one thing… the one thing in all the nine realms that can hurt me. That’s what I want to share with you, the secret of the one thing that can kill me,” she said and Amity’s eyes widened.

“What, no! No one should know that!” she shook her head.

“You wanted to know how you could trust me again,” Luz asserted, taking a step forward. “This is it, you can trust that I will never lie to you again by giving you and you alone the power to kill me.” 

“Luz, I don't want to know I can trust you because you're afraid I’d kill you otherwise!” Amity frowned, but the god of light shook her head.

“I’d never be afraid of you, Amity, even if you could kill me, this is… this is my way of proving to you that there is no one I trust more than you, this is a symbol of my promise, to doing the right thing this time!” She took another step forward. She brandished the arrow she’d been holding in front of her and Amity blinked as she watched Luz dig the tip into the pad of her thumb and almost immediately, bright red blood dripped from the cut.

“This arrow... is made of mistletoe,” the god of light mumbled quietly. “It’s the only thing that can do me harm. It... and you, with or without it,” she said. 

Amity let those words sink in, watching the red liquid drip from Luz’s thumb. 

Mistletoe, such a common and harmless thing; the one thing that could destroy the invulnerable god of light. A secret of such magnitude that Amity couldn’t bring herself to even repeat it aloud.

“I won’t…,” is the resolute reply, and Luz smiled at the seriousness in her voice. This was all much too serious for her.

“but if I lie again.. you can kill me,” she offered with a smile and Amity can’t help the breathy laugh that escaped her lips for the first time in a long while.

“I’m not going to kill you, Luz,” she said, amused but exasperated. 

“But you, and only you, in all the nine realms outside my mother could!” she said with a grin.

Amity can’t help but smile up at her and it makes Luz’s heart not hurt for the first time in a while to see that adoring look being directed at her once more, rather than pain or contempt.

“You’re a fool, Luz,” the jarl said, crossing her arms as she gazed up at her and watched the happy beaming smile that broke out across Luz’s face 

“But I want to be your fool.” she grinned. Amity rolled her eyes and then they fell back to the ruby red liquid sliding down Luz’s hand, but then her eyes moved to the arrow before looking back up into Luz’s dark brown eyes.

“If that is the only thing that can hurt you… why do you have that?” she asked, and the smile fell from Luz’s face.

The cavern went deathly silent as they stared back at each other before Luz looked away and the guilt on her face said it all, Amity knew the answer. 

She ripped the arrow from Luz’s hand and snapped it in two before throwing the pieces away into the darkness of the cavern, face twisted up in a scowl.

“How could you ever… ever...?” Her voice trembled and she couldn't even finish the sentence, eyes stinging. 

“Life without you didn’t seem like one worth continuing…,” Luz finally mumbled and Amity, at last, threw herself at the deity, wrapping her arms around her shoulders, face buried in her neck. It was the first time they had touched since Luz had bandaged her wounds after her battle with the marauder.

Luz wrapped her arms around her waist and squeezed, burying her face in pale green hair, and for the first time in what felt like forever, her pain lessened.

They stayed that way for a long time, enjoying each other’s presence and warmth after so long apart. Luz couldn't squeeze her close enough.

“I know I hurt you, and I did everything wrong… but our love is real, Amity, it is,” the god whispered against her hair. "If you'd let me prove it to you..."

Amity is the one to finally pull out of the embrace.

“Okay,” she mumbled.

“Okay?” Luz cocked her head.

“I want us to try again…, but it has to be different this time, Luz.”

“No lies,” she rushed to say, nodding rapidly. 

“Yes, but I mean… I don’t know what is or isn’t true of you anymore, you repressed so much, pretending to be a mortal… I need to relearn who you are, from the beginning,” she explained. “From this point on, we start over, just the truth, but that also means that things can’t be the way they were before in other ways either… you can’t stay in the village, can’t stay with me at night…” 

“I understand,” Luz nodded.

“You should have this back too,” she mumbled, reaching beneath her cloak and pulling off a familiar-looking medallion. Luz’s heart sank into her feet at the sight of it and Amity can see the pain there, this is hurting her. “Willow explained its meaning to me… right now… you need to take it back...” she held it out and Luz nodded solemnly, holding out her hand. Amity set it in her palm but didn’t let go, instead, pressed both her hands around Luz’s and the medallion. “...for now… and, maybe someday, when things are, hopefully, good between us again, you can ask this time..., and I’ll happily accept it,” she told Luz quietly. The edges of her lips quirked upward but her eyes were still filled with pain, but she nodded just the same before Amity let go, and Luz slipped it back around her own neck.

She already missed the familiar weight against her chest, over her heart, but while they became reacquainted with each other, it isn’t right she keep it. 

She started to grab the ax from her side but Luz threw up her hands. 

“I had that made for you… and I’m no warrior, I’d have no use for it. I have no right to ask anything of you, but keep it, please?” she asked, and Amity hesitated a moment, looking into her pleading eyes but nodded. “Finest ax the head of the dwarven smiths has ever made, or at least, that’s what he said…”

“It’s beautiful, thank you,” she said and Luz just nodded. “So…,” Amity started, taking a step back. “I’m Jarl Amity of Boneshaven, formerly of clan Blightbane.” she introduced herself, crossing her arms and Luz can’t help but smirk.

Maybe this wasn’t exactly what she’d wanted, but the fact that Amity was willing to try with her again was more than she could have hoped for, and she planned to make good on her own promise.

She flipped her cloak off one shoulder and bowed to the jarl, who was trying to hold back her laughter.

“Luz of Asgard, youngest of the allfather and god of light, joy, purity and the summer sun. The pleasure of this meeting is mine entirely, Jarl Amity of Boneshaven.” She peeked up at Amity from beneath her lashes, grinning, which made the jarl chuckle. Luz stood again and smiled at her; getting the warrior to laugh was always an accomplishment she treasured highly.

“Speaking of the summer, I believe you have some work to do...?” Amity reminded.

“Oh, right! I had better go before Ragnarok really does start…,” she hummed as they moved toward the tunnel leading back above ground, Luz created an orb of light that lit their way.

“So, I probably won’t see you till summer ends…,” Amity trailed off, frowning and Luz shook her head as they came out above the ground, standing beneath the ancient tree. 

“No, I’m going to have to work double-time to fix what my absence has caused… but I’ll be back before you know it.” she smiled down at her and held out a hand.

Amity looked at it for a long second before slipping her hand into hers. Luz set her other hand atop it and squeezed gently. She was always so warm, and Amity had missed it dearly.

“I’ll be back soon, and then we can work on… this.” she gave another little squeeze and Amity nodded. With one last long, lingering look, Luz let her hand slip out from between hers and turned before sprinting off into the woods. There was a bright flash of light and she was gone. 

“I’ll be waiting,” Amity mumbled to herself.


	10. Chapter 10

Amity is lonely.

It was amazing to her how she could be surrounded by people every day but without the one she longed to see, she still felt lonely. Even if her siblings were clamoring all over themselves for her attention to try and distract her; for which she was grateful. 

Summer had ended and the days had started to grow cooler and shorter, the natural way, with the gradual ushering in of winter, and she hadn’t seen Luz in two months. Ever since she had left to finish her work for the season. Not two days after she left, the sweltering heat of summer had returned and people had flocked back to the temple to offer their praise to the god of light and Amity had watched, amused as people praised ‘Baldur’, youngest of Odin; at least they had that part right. 

Amity missed her. 

True, they still had a lot of work to do to fix their relationship, to rebuild their broken trust, and soothe both their hurt, but she missed her awfully anyway. 

After the ten weeks, they hadn’t been speaking and the god of light had let summer fall to the wayside, the brief, maybe twenty-minute conversation they’d had before she had vanished again was just not enough. 

All that time they hadn't been talking had hurt, deeply, for multiple reasons, the first of which was how betrayed she had still felt by the deception, but after the last two months of dwelling on it, she understood, somewhat. She may not have believed Luz anyway had she simply come out to her with who she was when they had first met. She knew that Luz had been afraid of being treated like a god instead of a person, and Amity wasn’t sure what she would have done if presented with the truth, but that hadn't made it hurt less that Luz lied to her. The second and perhaps most obvious was that she had missed her deeply. Luz had been at her side nearly constantly before the truth had come out, and when she did have to leave, she always came back within a few days, bearing new stories to tell the jarl or some little gift.

Amity sighed as she played with the leather strap on her ax as she walked around the village, the smooth leather was soft beneath the pads of her fingers. A gift from Luz, although one she had been rather reluctant to accept at first, given everything that had been going on between them, but Luz had insisted, and Amity felt bad about making her take back the medallion, necessary as it had been, so she’d relented.

It really was a finely crafted weapon, too. Had it been presented under different circumstances she wouldn’t have hesitated for a moment in taking it. The dwarves really did make the most incredible crafts in all the nine realms. 

She’s already had the chance to use it in battle once and it’s cutting power was otherworldly, she was smitten with the weapon.  
She continued her rounds about the village, the sun had only just set and soft rays of orange and pink light were still reaching over the horizon to light her way, so the dark wasn’t bothering her at all, not yet anyway. She could hear the village children somewhere in the near distance, screaming and laughing, the sound of their rapid footsteps in the dirt made her smile

She made her way to one end of the village gates and found it clear, so she began to turn back when movement at the edge of the woods caught her eye.

Peering into the trees, with what little light remained she could see the silhouette of a figure, something large and dark, solid against the shadowy figures of the trees.

She stepped closer and laid a hand on the handle of her ax, prepared for anything. 

A wolf, the biggest she had ever seen, but there was something off about it, besides its enormous size. 

It had large rusty red eyes and the top half of another wolf skull resting atop its head.

She blinked at it, mouth hanging slightly ajar.

Those rust-colored eyes locked with hers and the creature snorted at her.

“You don’t look all that special to me…,” it grunted and Amity choked on her breath. It had just spoken … and insulted her no less!

“Wh-” 

“Luz is waiting for you at her temple…,” he grumbled at her.

“What?” is all she can think to say and then the beast is turning and darting into the trees. “Hey… wait!” she called at the beast. She hesitated only a moment before darting off into the trees after it.

She chased after the wolf weaving between the trees with a nimbleness that was surprising for its incredible size, she could only just keep up.

She followed him deep into the ever-darkening woods but after a while, what he said had sunk in, strange as that was to think. He's leading her to the light temple by the shore, where Luz was waiting for her; this made her run all the faster. 

The rebuilt temple of Baldur, she snorted at that, the place she and Luz had met. That seemed so long ago now, so much had happened since that night.

The great black wolf disappeared within the temple's open doors, but where there was darkness everywhere else, the faint glow of light emanated from within the stone building and Amity's heart sped up.

She wasted no time hurrying inside, stopping only once she had cleared the doorway. There is a glow coming from the main rotunda, just around the corner. She stopped long enough to catch her breath before moving forward toward it. 

She turned the corner to the temple's main room and stopped.

Standing at the altar, glowing faintly, is Luz. Her hands are cupped around the air above the altar and then the room is filled with a blinding white light, then as quickly as it appeared, it's gone, and cupped between her hands is a brightly glowing ball of light. Gently she pushed it upward and it began to float higher and higher disappearing through the opening in the roof. 

Amity watched, fascinated as it continued to climb before it seemed to become part of the very sky itself, a pinprick of light among the inky blackness overhead.

As she stared up into the darkening sky she had a startling realization. 

"Stars…," she mumbled; Luz was making stars. She jumped when the god's voice rang out through the temple with knowing amusement.

"My own little artistic touch to my brother's night, he doesn't mind…" 

From somewhere in the temple she can hear a derisive snort.

“Not that you’ve ever asked me…,” the same voice from before; the wolf. 

Her brother? The scary brother she had never met, King? 

Luz’s twin brother was a wolf? 

Nothing surprised her anymore. 

Amity looked back down to find the light God looking at her with a small, but pleased smile. Amity took several hesitant steps forward, walking into the light that seemed to emit from the center of the room, from Luz.

They stared at each other for a long moment before, sheepishly, and unsure, Luz held her arms open in silent invitation, but Amity did not hesitate. 

She ran. 

She crossed the room in only a few seconds to go crashing straight into the laughing god's arms. Luz caught her in her tight grip and grinned into her hair. She hadn’t been sure how she would be received. 

Amity squeezed her tightly burying her face in her neck as tears pricked at her eyes. Luz was warm and held her back just as tightly, she could feel her smile pressed into her hair.

They had much to work on, much slower this time, but Luz had been right, their love was real, it always had been, and Amity had missed her desperately.

"I missed you…," the warrior mumbled as Luz ran her fingers through her hair.

"I missed you too, Amity," the god hummed, nuzzling her head into the mane of green-stained locks. 

They stayed that way for several long minutes, simply enjoying each other's presence after so long before Luz finally pulled back, hands cupping the sides of the warrior's face as her thumbs brushed over her cheeks and part of the long scars there.

The way in which Luz was looking at her, with such tender warmth and absolute affection made Amity's insides squirm and she wanted to stay here forever, but she couldn't, they were starting over, and she had already allowed more than she should have, it was hard for her too, but Amity didn’t want to be hurt again.

It was best to do this slowly.

She finally forced herself out of the hold, despite her own desire and much to Luz’s disappointment, though she continued to smile at her. 

“You’re finished with summer?” she asked her and the god of light nodded.

“Yeah, I got everything back on the right path!” she grinned.

"Will you have to leave again?" Amity asked, fearing the answer.

"Not for a while. It's winter, the hours of light are shorter and summer has gone, I have much more time to devote to you… to us," she promised. “Nothing could tear me away from you.” She smiled.

"It seems blasphemous that I should hog all of the god of lights attention, a mere mortal…" Amity smiled cheekily up at Luz, who just laughed and reached to take her hand, though she hesitated, should Amity rebuff her, but she let Luz wrap her hand around hers and squeeze gently. Amity was just as glad for the single point of contact.

Amity had felt the lack of her presence at her side just as keenly as Luz it seemed. 

"I decide what is or isn't worth my attention…," Luz mumbled, giving her hand a squeeze. She'd missed her so much while she was away, longing to see her, but knowing that she didn't have time to dally after all the time she had spent hiding from the world after her and Amity's... spat, she’d call it. The growing season wasn't going to perpetuate itself.

"And you are no mere mortal…," Luz hummed. "You are my champion, a harbinger of light… and my love," she mumbled the last part under her breath; Amity flushed at that. She needed to relearn Luz, and how to be with her, but Amity had never been anything but forthcoming, so if Luz said she loved her then she couldn’t deny her the right to say it, but she could not openly return such sentiments, not right now. Luz knew that though, so when she simply mumbled back, “I know…” with red cheeks Luz only continued to smile.

Amity had nearly forgotten about the champion mark of light impressed upon her skin where she had been stabbed. She needed to ask Luz what all that entailed, there just hadn’t been time yet.

“Are you two done yet?” a gruff voice came from somewhere at her side and Amity turned to find the giant wolf sitting a few feet away on his haunches, looking at them. “Do I have to introduce myself?” he huffed.

“Oh, right! You’ve never met King, Amity,” Luz lit up. “This is my twin brother, King. The god of darkness and Winter.” she held a hand out to the large wolf.

“Your twin brother is a wolf?” she can’t help but ask aloud. All Luz can do is shrug. This was the only way she had ever known, so it wasn’t that strange to her.

“Nice… to meet you…,” the jarl said uncertainly. 

King just snorted and stood before trotting out of the temple.

“I still don’t see it, Luz.” Were his parting words, making the god of a light frown at his retreating form. 

“Have I… offended him?” she looked up at Luz who sighed but shook her head. The last thing she wanted was to upset the god of darkness and winter.

“Ignore him,” she waved a hand in the direction of the doors. “He… he’s upset with you for all the time I was hiding beneath the tree…”

“He’s upset with me?” Amity asked a hand slapped against her chest.

“I explained that everything was my fault, the lying, and everything but…,” she trailed off, scratching the back of her head. 

“He’s your brother… your twin, and I know how that works,” Amity finished for her with a smirk.

“That didn’t stop Boscha from hitting me with Mjolnir,” Luz scoffed and Amity looked aghast at that. “It’s okay! Invulnerable, remember?” she smiled. “She was mostly just letting off steam, she was worried is all.” 

On the subject of the light god's siblings…

“Willow told me about Boscha, so… Gus and Hooty, their gods too, yes?” she asked and Luz nodded.

“Though, you’d know them better by the names mortals came up with for them, Loki and Tyr,” she informed her, and Amity narrowed her eyes, thinking of the large nuisance of a man that had come to her village screaming for the champion of light, whom she hadn’t been at the time.

“I’m glad I didn’t choose to be an adherent of war…,” she mumbled under her breath, but Luz caught it and chuckled. 

The temple was growing darker and darker and Luz could see Amity begin to fidget, shuffling nervously as she glanced around. The inside of the temple was especially dark.

She held up a hand and a glowing orb of light burst into existence, lighting up the darkness around them. Amity blinked at it and smiled gratefully up Luz, but said nothing. 

An awkwardness was starting to fill the air around them as they stood there in the ever-darkening temple. 

“You should… probably return to the village before King really gets going out there…,” Luz mumbled and Amity frowned, looking down and nodding.

It was obvious they had both missed each other, but there was a new awkward uncertainty between them. They didn’t yet know exactly how to interact with each other, what was still within bounds and what wasn’t.

They were starting over, but at the same time, their history colored much of them. It was going to be a difficult thing to navigate for a time, keeping each other close while also holding at a safe distance. 

For now, it was probably better that they try to maintain some semblance of distance, Amity still felt raw. It was strange, wanting to keep someone at a distance while wanting to pull them in so close you ceased to exist as two different individuals. 

She knew though that Luz was going to defer to her on what boundaries to keep since she was the one who had been hurt here.

“Walk back with me?” Amity asked, eyes turning back up to the tall god who smiled and nodded.

The night air is cool and as they walk in somewhat tense silence, a floating orb of light to guide their way, Amity can’t help but notice the fur cloak she’d given the god last winter, hanging off her shoulders.

“Does the cold bother you?” Amity asked out of nowhere, surprising Luz, who turned to look at her.

“No, cold and heat don’t bother me, I can’t feel any kind of pain… well, I can't feel any kind of physical pain,” she corrected. She was very aware now that she very much could feel emotional pain, keenly. 

“Then why keep that?” she motioned to the cloak hanging over the one of royal violet on Luz’s shoulders. Luz frowned, hurt flashing in her eyes as she reached for it.

“Do you want it back ?” she asked, starting to pull it off.

“No, no!” Amity shook her head frantically, she could see the hurt too. “No, Luz, I was just curious, I understand why you never wore anything warmer now,” she said as Luz’s hands fell away from the boar skin cloak. “Why wear it?”

“Because you gave it to me.” is the simple answer. Amity’s heart thumped at that.

“I feel like there's so much I don’t know…,” she mumbled, turning back to look at the path in front of them frowning, prompting Luz to frown as well.

“You can ask me anything you like, anything at all and I’ll tell you,” the god offered. 

Amity glanced at her from the corner of her eye and hummed thoughtfully. There were so many questions all sitting on the tip of her tongue but there were two she needed to know about now.

"There is something I've been wanting to ask you about,” Amity spoke up after a few minutes. Luz hummed in response.

“This…” Amity mumbled and Luz looked to see her holding a hand over the upper part of her abdomen where they both knew the sigil of light was branded forever into her skin, a mark of service and duty. “What does this mean?” she asked.

“It’s a symbol to everyone that you’re my champion,” is Luz’s simple answer.

“But what does that mean, and why did you do it?” She’s been wondering this for months. 

“Champions are mortal extensions of us, special adherents that do our will in Midgard. Like, amass followers for us, to strengthen our powers. Most gods don't come down here much, I’ve just always kind of preferred it.” she shrugged. “And I did it because it was the only way to return you to life.” 

Amity only has more questions now.

“How does that make you stronger?”

“Oh, well, the more people that actively worship us the stronger we get… I’m not sure how to explain it, but yeah, that's how I learned about you in the first place!” she smiled. “I started to notice myself getting stronger, my abilities were more powerful because you were winning battles in my name.” 

“So every time I protected a village and had them build an altar to you… I was making you stronger?” she asked and Luz nodded. “Is that why the last two summers before this just past were so much hotter and prosperous?” Amity blinked and Luz grinned. 

“Yeah!” 

That certainly explained the constant bloodshed between the different factions of the gods, they used their mortal champions to vie for power over their brethren. Which made another thought come to the jarl.

"When I... died, the valkyrie said you had never chosen a champion before…," she trailed off and Luz nodded.

"You know I don't really care about fighting, and I've never been interested in the power struggle that goes on back home," she shrugged.” I don’t want to be powerful or in charge, dad can have it.” she blew a raspberry, making Amity snort. 

“Alright…” 

“Oh, you’ll probably develop some kind of… abilities, as a side effect of the connection the mark gives you to me."

"What kind of abilities?" Amity's eyes narrowed suspiciously at that. Luz shrugged, which did not make the warrior feel better at all.

"I've never had a champion before, and it's always different," she said. "Some of Boscha's champions gained strength beyond what a mortal should have been capable of, and some of them could only tell when it was going to rain or not," she laughed. "You won't know until they present themselves, but something to keep an eye out for." She smiled.

"So if I should start glowing, I'll know who to blame?" Amity glanced up at her, smirking, which made the God of a light giggle.

"Hopefully you won't…or you’ll at least be able to control it."

Amity hummed to herself. She already knew what her next question was. She glanced up at Luz from the corner of her eye. 

“The medallion… tell me about that,” she said and Luz’s cheeks pinked, mostly embarrassment but there was a twinge of shame there too. She’d been thinking about it, and giving the necklace to Amity without telling her of its connotations hadn’t been right. Boscha had also said as much when she’d seen that Luz had it back, after smacking her upside the head for worrying all of them; even if she couldn't’ feel the pain it would have caused others. 

“I thought Willow told you about the medallions already…,” she mumbled, looking away.

“I want to hear it from you,” Amity said, her tone leaving no room for argument. Luz cringed but nodded anyway.

“My father had them made for us, not just the five of us, but all the gods have one. They’re our symbols, they're a part of us. Originally, to possess one that wasn’t your own was a way to prove dominion or power over the person it belonged to… so when one of my uncles gave his to his at the time, not wife, to show she held sway over him it kind of turned into a symbol of intention and… marriage, by showing you had power over the person the medallion belonged to,” she mumbled, reaching up to scratch the back of her head.

“So, you just gave it to me without any explanation that you were asking me to be your wife?” Amity is frowning but she’s partially amused as well, it just seemed like such a… ‘Luz’ thing to do.

Luz’s face darkened, visible even in the low, glowing light that lit their way back to the village.

“I did say it was a token of my affection…,” she mumbled. 

"A flower is a token of affection, something equating to a proposal of marriage is not," Amity crossed her arms as they walked. "Usually people ask first too," she smirked, but Luz missed it.

"I know… I'm sorry," the god mumbled, turning away and Amity frowned, her goal hadn't been to make her feel bad. Yes, there were a number of ways Luz had gone wrong here, and they were working on them, but the root of it all was that she loved Amity.

"Luz… I didn't mean to…," Amity sighed and laid a hand gently on her arm. "I know you're sorry, for all of it, you've apologized and proven it won't happen again… so no more apologies, alright? I want us to move forward." she squeezed her arm gently. 

Luz looked at her and their gaze locked for a long moment before she nodded.

"Alright," she agreed and they walked on in silence through the now dark forest, but something else was eating up at Luz now.

“I said from now on I would tell you everything you needed to know, nothing more withheld, and there's something else you should know… about the reason I just handed my medallion over to you…”

Amity looked up at her curiously, silently prompting her to go on. 

“I gave the medallion to you because I know, beyond any doubt that there isn’t anyone out there more perfect for me than you,” Luz said and Amity scoffed quietly to herself at that but Luz carried on. “The crystals in the cave of light, they’re just my divine essence given physical form, created when I was born, and they reacted to you. My mother is the only other person who's ever been there, and they never reacted to her,” Luz explained.

“Maybe it was just.... because I’m a mortal?” she tried, not sure she could, or wanted to accept that the two of them were fated to be, was the hurt also fated? 

“I thought maybe too at first, but then... you told me about the light that appeared for you in the cave, after your parents… after that.” she still couldn't bring herself to say the horrible things Amity’s parents had done to her. “I’m the only one who can create light from nothing, the only reason light could appear from nothing for you in your time of need would be because of a connection that already existed between the two of us.”

“A connection?” Amity’s brows furrowed and her question is quiet, but in the darkness of the woods it may as well have been a normal volume. Luz nodded.

“You and I are… I would say fated to be... but that’s up to you, but I know for certain there is no one in all the nine realms who is better for me than you.” 

Amity is silent for a long time, thinking.

“At least you being the god of light explains why you didn’t think I was touched when I told you that…” 

Luz scoffed at that.

“What does that mean, for us?” she finally asked and looked up at Luz, who is looking back at her from the corner of her eye.

“... It doesn’t have to mean anything.”

“It means something to you,” Amity shot back and Luz said nothing to deny it. 

“I was already in love with you when I figured it out… it’s nice to know I was right, but it doesn’t change anything about how I feel now,” she finally said.

Amity hummed in acknowledgment but said nothing else until the gates of the village came into view a few minutes later. Luz walked her up to the flickering torches, so the jarl would never be in the dark before Amity stopped her just shy of the gates.

"You… should probably go," she mumbled, twisting her fingers into the edges of her tunic, and Luz frowned, but nodded.

"Right, I'll… come to see you in a couple of days?" she asked. She wasn't sure how often the jarl would want her around for now. Before, she had barely left the village, but she knew it couldn't be that way anymore. At least, not for a while.

Amity nodded.

"Yes, I look forward to it,” she said and Luz smiled at that. “Goodnight, Luz."

"Goodnight," she returned the sentiment, still smiling, though it is tinged with sadness. She has only herself to blame for the arms-length they must hold each other for now.

Luz turned and walked back toward the forest. 

Her heart wants to tell her to stay, but her mind, conscious of the raw spot that still marked her heart won't allow her lips to form the words, so instead, she watched as Luz vanished back into the dark forest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter prob Friday


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy friday!

Amity had been tense the last few days.

The twins could tell just by watching her as she moved about the village with Willow hot on her trail, making note of the different things the warrior is telling her as they move from one problem to the next.

"Well, she's still not as tense as when she and Luz weren't talking," Edric hummed as he and his sister sat side by side on a pair of barrels outside the mead hall, watching.

"True, or when Luz was off fixing summer and Mittens was moping around here waiting for her to come back," Emira agreed.

"But she's still very tense today… not that I can blame her." 

"Yeah, those adherents of Hel have been attacking the other coastal villages pretty often lately and running her ragged defending them," Edric grumbled, jumping off the barrel, his sister followed suit as they made their way through the village. 

"They usually do this time of year, they don't spend any time preparing for winter up there in that stronghold of theirs in the east, they just try to steal from as many neighboring villages as they can, though I'm surprised to see them this far south," Emira hummed as they made their own rounds through the village. True, they couldn't exactly protect anything, but they could at least keep an eye out for trouble for their tired little sister.

Trouble they didn't cause that is.

"You know, I don't think she's dedicated any victories to Luz since she found out she was a god," He hummed thoughtfully.

"No, Viney said the men do, and she still has new villages build an altar, but she herself doesn't… they have a kind of complicated relationship right now though." 

"I think that's putting it mildly," Edric snorted as they passed the gate and caught sight of an old, hobbled man with a long beard and even longer cane with a curled snake carved atop it, standing outside. A leather satchel was hanging from his shoulders as he stood there.

"Ah, young ones, if an old peddler might have but a moment of your time?" He called out to them. 

The twins glanced at each other and shrugged before moving over to the gate.

"This is the village of Boneshaven, what business do you have here?" Emira asked him.

"I'm a traveling herbalist, I harvest wild plants and sell them to the villagers who have a need for them," he explained to the two.

"Well you've made the trip for nothing, we have our own herbalist, Oldman." Edric crossed his arms over his chest.

"Ah, of that I'm sure, however, I have traveled from the other islands and have an array of plants that do not grow here on the southern Boiling Isles." He smiled at them. "They treat all manner of ailments, burns, boils, and blisters. I even have an herb that will bring about relaxation and peace of mind," He boasted to them.

"Relaxation?" Edric blinked.

"Peace of mind?" Emira said.

The two glanced at each other out of the corners of their eyes, having similar thoughts.

"Aye, aye, once ground down and put in drink will leave one hardly feeling like themselves anymore!" He smiled. "Guaranteed to do wonders for the spirit."

the twins seeming to have finished their silent conversation turned back to the old peddler.

"And what would you want in return for this peace bringing herb?" Edric cocked his head curiously. 

"I'm in the midst of my travels, so if you have any to spare, I would trade a dose for a handful of bread." He offered, looking between the two of them.

Again the twins shared a glance before nodding to each other. Edric took off running back to their home. He was back within a few minutes with half a loaf of bread.

"The herb?" He raised a brow.

"Ah, of course, of course!" The old man nodded to himself as he dug through the satchel before coming back with a dried plant. It was dark green with dried yellow flowers and dark violet centers, the petals riddled with vein-like violet lines throughout and in the center, tiny bulbs of white.

He handed them a single stock and received the half loaf of bread in exchange.

"All you need is grind it to powder and put it in one's drink, the effects will follow soon after." He promised. "The twins nodded and grinned at each other before turning and darting back into the village, quite pleased with themselves. 

The old man watched them go smile pulling up into a devious grin and in a flash of light, the Oldman man vanished, and in his place stood a much younger appearing man in a pale blue tunic and dark green cloak. Gus grinned himself and twirled his staff with the coiled snake carved into the top. 

The Blightbane twins were some of his most devious adherents. Hardly a day went by when they didn't cause trouble of some sort. He was sure they would make excellent use of the plant. He twirled his staff and whistled to himself. Maybe he could find his sister, she was usually hanging around this place, what with her attachment to the mortal jarl of the village.

~ ~

It had only been a month since Luz had returned and winter was rolling into the world in truth and she could relax, at least as far as her duties for the summer sun was concerned.

But she had work yet to do. 

She still needed to work on mending her fractured relationship with Amity. It had been rather slow over the last couple of weeks. She only came around every few days, she was trying to maintain some distance while figuring out how to be close again. Amity had drawn the lines in the sand and Luz had every intention of staying on one side of them until she was told otherwise. She wasn’t allowed to stay in the village at night, since when she did she stayed with Amity and that was no longer on the table.

Something that had admittedly stung her, she would be leaving the village at sundown and catch sight of her sister disappearing in Willows's home for the evening and a bitter jealousy would try to bubble up in her stomach, though she was quick to push it back down.

It wasn’t her sister or Willow’s fault that Luz had disregarded their advice time and time again, continually putting off telling Amity the truth, and thus, landing herself in the situation she was in now.

Maybe if she had told her the truth from the start they would have no relationship at all but there was an equally good chance that they would be together and there never would have been any unnecessary hurt or anguish on both their parts.

She would never know now, she had made her decisions and taken actions that led to where she and the warrior now stood; she had no one to blame but herself for that.

All she could do now was work to right her wrongs and prove to Amity that she could be trusted again with her heart.

She knew that the jarl had been gone lately, fighting battles along the coastline based on what Willow told her when she came to visit a few days prior and the warrior had been away.

Hopefully, she would be back now, Luz hadn't seen her in over a week and was missing her. She just hoped that Amity had missed her too.

She found the jarl in the nearly empty mead hall, sitting by herself and nursing a mug. She looked tired and had a few fresh scrapes and cuts on her face and hands.

She didn't notice the deity of light approaching until she was standing at her side.

"Hey, mind if I join you?" 

Amity’s head flung upward at the sound of the voice.

"Luz! Of course." The smile that broke out across her face made the god smile back, happy that the jarl seemed pleased to see her. as she climbed onto the bench next to her.

“Are you alright? You look a little… tired,” she said.

“I am tired,” Amity grumbled. Luz lifted an arm and hesitantly wrapped it around the warrior's back, but she felt Amity stiffen under her touch and she snatched it back as if burned. 

Amity bit her lip, she hadn't meant to just stiffen up like that and send Luz scrambling to distance herself, but she was still a little hesitant, and she couldn't help the reaction, nor did she have the will right now to correct it. She felt a little bad that half the time Luz didn't seem to know what she could or couldn't do anymore and Amity had a hard time expressing it in clear terms, especially when she wanted the opposite. She wanted the Aesir god near, but her mind knew better, she still needed some time for the rawness of her wounds to harden over.

Amity hated this stiltedness that had come to exist with them, the awkwardness that had a tendency to crop up at times now, and she knew it was because of the physical distance she demanded they keep, Luz was a very physically affectionate person, but she wasn't entirely sure yet that she was ready to be physically affectionate with Luz again.

The god looked nervous and unsure now and Amity smiled at her, a silent way of letting her know that it was okay.

"The adherents of Hel have been ransacking some of the coastal villages for winter stock, they never prepare it for it themselves and instead take from the nearby villages, but I've never seen them this far south before, they're stronghold is in the mountains to the east, and there's no shortage of villages around that area, I don't know why they've come this way…but they've been a thorn in my side for the past week," she grumbled, taking a long drink from her mug.

"Maybe… I could do something?" Luz offered.

"Willow already talked to Boscha, and she said she'd rather not interfere with them, to keep peace among the other gods. Would you stepping in not cause any unnecessary grief in Asgard?" Amity asked and Luz made a face.

She wasn't a warrior, and she didn't exactly have a list of champions that she could send. Boscha was right, Hel was their nephew and though Gus couldn't have cared less about his sons' machinations, it would probably still stir up things in Asgard and rightly anger her father, things had been pretty peaceful as of late she didn't want to be the one to stir the pot and get everyone fighting again.

Amity seemed to be able to tell the answer from the look on her face.

"I appreciate the gesture, Luz, but I don't want you doing anything that might cause you problems on my behalf." Amity smiled at her and Luz frowned.

"I just wish I could help, I guess you'd think a god would be more useful," she grumbled, more to herself than anything. These were all new problems for the immortal. Luz had never been a fighter, and never cared about the political upheaval that often went on back home, so she'd never before had a reason to wish that she were more powerful or more than what she was.

But Amity…

The mortal had a variety of real problems that people like Luz never had to concern themselves with, and she wanted to help her, but it seemed that all her divinity was actually not that useful when she finally had need of it.

"It's alright, I can take care of this myself." She sat a hand on her arm, trying to comfort her, she could tell the god was upset about not being useful.

Amity knew better.

She knew firsthand the importance of light especially, but the summer sun that grew their crops and the joy that all mortals spent the entirety of their lives searching for; there were few things of such importance. 

Luz was incredibly important and powerful, maybe not in the same way as her siblings, but that didn't diminish her value. She opened her mouth to say as much.

"Luz, you…" 

"Mittens!" The twins' voices called out, cutting off anything she was about to say. They looked up to find the two making their way toward them mugs of mead in hand.

"We noticed you were running a little on the dry side, so we brought you a little pick-me-up." Edric smiled proudly to himself as he set the frothing cup of liquid in front of her.

She glanced into the mug still in her grasp and noticed it was dry.

"Oh, thanks, Ed." She nodded and grabbed the mug sitting in front of her.

"We got you some too, Luz." Emira slid a mug to the god who took it with a grateful nod.

"Thanks."

"So… how are you two doing?" Edric asked, looking between them over the rim of his own beverage.

Amity and Luz shared a look from the corner of their eyes.

Neither was really sure how to answer that question. What were they measuring it next to? They were doing much better than they had been when they weren't speaking, and better still than just a month ago when Luz had returned,

But they still weren't where they wanted to be for certain, it was all a work in progress.

Amity elected to take a long drink from her mug. Emira kicked her twin under the table while shooting him a dirty look. 

"Fine…, I think…" Luz mumbled the last part under her breath, the twins didn't hear, but Amity did and frowned behind her mug.

She knew she needed some space, but sometimes, such as now, she worried if maybe she wasn’t keeping Luz at too far a distance if she was wondering if things were actually getting better. They were, they absolutely were. Amity felt a little better about the Luz she was getting to know more each day, which admittedly, wasn't that much different than the one she had known before, with a handful of exceptions of course.

Such as her twin brother, the wolf, for example, but also other things, such as her incredible strength. Though, by her own admission, she was weak next to Hooty or Boscha.

She also really wanted to be close again, she still very much missed the taller woman's presence beside her in bed at night, keeping her warm, but it was too soon to so readily invite Luz so completely back into her life.

It needed to be gradual, but maybe this was a little too gradual if Luz doubted their progress, maybe even doubted if Amity even loved her.

She emptied her mug and set it on the table with a sigh.

She probably hurt her feelings flinching away from her earlier, then not answering her siblings’ question, which hadn't been her intention, and two things she was sure was still true was that Luz was a sensitive soul, and Amity still very much loved her.

She reached over, hesitating only a second before laying a hand over Luz's on the table, making the light god's head whip to face her.

She offered a small smile and a squeeze of her hand.

Maybe this had all been caused by Luz, but she was hurting now too, and even if people would have argued that her pain was her own fault, Amity did still love her, and cared that she was hurting. Maybe she couldn’t alleviate it the way she knew Luz wanted, but she could still reassure her she was here, and things were moving along just fine.

Luz smiled back at her, and the affection in her eyes is so clear it made Amity's stomach flip.

But then it does another strange flip she knows has absolutely nothing to do with the god sitting next to her.

She frowned and laid her free hand over her stomach.

"Are you okay?" Luz asked, frowning at the strange look on the warrior's face.

"I'm not sure, I feel strange all of a sudden…," Amity mumbled and the twins seemed to perk up at that.

"Like… relaxed maybe?" Edric asked.

"No… I…," Amity trailed off, there was a buzzing in her ears and the light in the hall seemed so much brighter all of a sudden. Anxious energy was clawing its way up her throat and into her limbs.

"Amity?" Luz asked, turning her hand over to hold the jarls and it was suddenly clammy. "What's wrong?" Her brows furrowed between her eyes as she watched a light sheen of sweat began to break out across the warrior's forehead.

Everything was so loud, the sound of the wooden benches scraping across the floor and the quiet chatter that echoed across the hall irritated her, scratching at a deep anger within.

"I…," she shook her head and stood from the table with a scratchy growl, and pulled her hand free from Luz's who blinked up at her, stunned. 

The twins were looking at her in partial fear and confusion.

Before anyone could say another word she turned and bolted out of the hall.

"Amity!" Luz called at the jarls retreating back as she jumped up and ran after her, the twins hot on her heels.

They burst through the mead hall doors in time to see the warrior bolting down the path that led out the village gates.

"Amity!" Luz screamed but before she could let out another yell the twins were clamping their hands around her mouth.

"Don't!" Emira hissed in her ear, looking around the village. "We don't want to panic the villagers!" She said.

"If they knew something was wrong with Amity…," Edric trailed off.

Luz pried their hands away from her mouth with a frustrated growl.

"We need to follow her!" Without waiting for either of them to agree she took off running down the path after the green-haired warrior.

Amity vanished through the trees and Luz felt fear grip at her insides. Amity was not acting right, obviously. They needed to catch her before something bad happened to her, Luz couldn't save her life a second time.

She had a pretty good lead on them as they zigzagged through the trees moving farther and farther away from the village. At one point she lost track of the black, fur topped cloak and head of pale green hair and her heart began to beat hard against her ribs.

Where was she!?

"Amity!" Luz yelled her name and it bounced off the bare trees. It was cold out but the first snows of winter had not yet fallen so there was no trail to follow.

Luz stopped, looking around desperately and listening for any sounds. The twins stopped behind her.

"Where did she go?" Emira looked around for any sign of her younger sister

"This is not what he said it would do!" Edric panted. Luz blinked at that.

"Who said what would do what?" She whipped around to face the two, guilt flashing across their faces.

"The old peddler…," Edric said after the twins shared a glance.

"There was an old man selling herbs outside the gate this morning, he was selling an herb that if ground up and put in one's drink or food would help relax them, Amity's been so tense lately with all the fighting and the stuff going on with you…," Luz flinched at that. "we just thought she could use a little something to relax…," the eldest sister trailed off.

"This isn't what we had in mind," Edric admitted.

"So you just gave her some random herb from a strange peddler!?" Luz shouted at the two, who flinched.

"We just wanted to help…," Edric mumbled.

"What did you even give her?" Luz asked. Emira reached into her pocket and pulled out a plant and handed it to Luz, who turned it over in her fingers for a long moment.

It looked really familiar, but she couldn't right away place where she'd seen it before.

"Ugh! Later, we have to find her… " Before she could take another step forward a loud, guttural roar echoed off the trees, not that of a beast, but very bestial in nature.

"Amity!" Luz jumped and ran toward the noise, the twins followed.

They rounded a bend in the hills only to find a headless deer lying at their feet, fresh blood spilled across the ground, and standing over it, brandishing her bloody ax, was Amity.

"Ami-" the twins started, but stopped, eyes wide and mouth hanging open as they looked at their younger sister.

She was hunched over, a death grip on her ax and lips pulled back over her teeth. She was frothing at the mouth and her pupils were blown wide, black blotting out her iris'. 

"Shit…," Luz mumbled under her breath, suddenly remembering why the plant looked so familiar.

It was hensbane. Something Boscha grew in Asgard and gave to specific warriors under her in order for them to enter a trance-like state that made them fight with unmatched fury.

Berserkers, she called them.

That's all she had time to think about before Amity is charging at them with a gurgled warcry and her ax raised. 

Edric let out a high pitched scream.

"Run!" Luz yelled at the twins, who didn't need to be told twice as their younger sister charged them, bloody ax held overhead.

"Amity, stop!" Luz turned to the jarl only for the ax to bury itself into her gut. She grabbed hold of it, holding the jarl in place. "Amity, can you hear me?"

The jarl only let out a guttural growl and with a mighty shove, threw Luz to the ground, pulling the ax free from its place lodged into her midsection.

Luz wasn't even winded as she hit the ground, her skin had closed up the second the ax pulled free, though it did leave a large gash in the front of her tunic, and several more followed as Amity slashed and hacked at her with the ax but seemed to grow increasingly more frustrated as it did nothing to the god other than tear her clothes as she tried to grab hold of it to hold the warrior in place.

With a frustrated noise, she turned and darted off into the trees. 

Luz scrambled to her feet as Amity took off into the woods chasing after her screaming siblings.

She followed quickly, Amity was fast on a good day, under the effects of the berserker herb she was even faster and Luz could hardly keep up, her boar fur cloak even flew off her shoulders as she ran, but she had no time to stop for it.

She was just about to catch up, and just in time, because Emira had tripped and now Amity was standing overtop her, ax reared back to deliver a killing blow.

Emira was looking up at her drooling and snarling sister with wide, teary eyes.

"Amity…," she whimpered.

The ax went crashing down.

The blade embedded itself deep into Luz's back as she jumped between the sisters.

Luz winced, not from any pain, but the force that pushed her forward knocking her onto Emira, who grunted as the god of light fell on top of her.

Amity was still standing over them, frothing at the mouth and about to reach for the dagger on her belt when she jerked forward, eyes rolling into the back of her head as she slumped to the side, falling unconscious into the dirt. 

Edric panted as he brandished a large rock between his hands, shaking and tears prickling at the corners of his eyes. 

"I'm sorry…," he whimpered, dropping the rock.

Luz was quick to crawl off Emira and scrambled over to Amity, running her hands through her hair gently, searching for any cuts or blood. She didn’t feel any and she was breathing, but unconscious.

"We need to get her to someone who can help…," she mumbled to herself, thinking quickly and looking around the woods.

She knew where they were, and she knew a place very close by.

"Follow me," Luz commanded the twins as she scooped Amity up into her arms and took off trotting through the woods, not even looking to see if the two were following.

It didn't take her long to get to the house in question, nestled at the base of the mountain. 

She banged on the door with her foot and after only a minute the door cracked open and a familiar pair of amber-colored eyes peeked between the crack and then the door swung open completely.

"Luz?" Eda blinked at the god of light, with an unconscious mortal in her arms and two standing at her back.

"I need your help," Luz said without preamble.

Eda stepped aside to allow them to enter.

The twins looked around the insides of the weird ramshackle house that seemed to be decorated in a bird motif of some kind.

Lilith appeared from another room and blinked in surprise at seeing the god.

"Luz, to what do we owe the pleasure of your presence?” she asked and then noticed the unconscious mortal in her arms and hurried forward. “What happened?”

“She ingested hensbane and went on a rampage, then she was knocked unconscious with a rock,” Luz quickly explained.

“Come and lay her down, I’ll tend to her head,” Lilith led her over to a mat on the floor. Luz laid her down and Lilith went to tending the jarl. 

“Luz…,” Eda started, looking at the god with a confused look. 

“Oh, Eda, this is Edric and Emira, their Amity’s siblings,” Luz explained the other two mortals. “This is Eda and Lilith, their oracles, go-betweens for other Aesir and mortals,” Luz told the twins.

“No, Luz…,” Eda started again, but stopped, waving her hand. The god of light would figure it out eventually. “I take it, that's the Amity you’ve been so enamored with?” the long, gray-haired oracle pointed at the unconscious warrior who her sister was carefully using her magic to tend to and Luz nodded. 

“How did she ingest hensbane?” Eda asked and Luz turned to the twins who looked anywhere but at the god and oracle looking

“Well…" Edric started and Emira picked up where he left off, explaining the peddler offering herbs that he said would relax whoever ingested it.

Luz narrowed her eyes when the twins mentioned a staff.

“Did it have a coiled snake engraved on top?” Luz frowned. The twins blinked at her.

“Actually, yeah!” Edric nodded and Eda began to cackle hysterically while Luz scowled.

“Gus…," she hissed to herself but the twins heard it.

“Why would our patron god want us to do this to Amity?” Emira frowned. 

“Did he specifically mention Amity?” Lilith piped up from her place beside the jarl.

“No…” Emira shook her head.

“Then likely he meant for you to use it on others, especially knowing how Luz feels about her. The gods of light and mischief are notoriously close,” the elder of the two oracles hummed and Eda nodded. 

“We might not be after this…,” Luz grumbled to herself. 

“This was our fault… we shouldn’t have tried to give her something without her knowledge…” Emira frowned.

“We just wanted to help her relax…” Edric chimed in.

“Well… she’s relaxed now,” Eda snorted, gesturing to the unconscious jarl as Lilith stood from her side and turned to Luz.

“She’ll be fine, she only needs to rest,” she informed the god of light, who nodded and walked past her to kneel at Amity's side.

Lilith blinked down at the god and opened her mouth to say something but Eda stopped her.

“Don’t… I want to see how long it takes...” she grinned and Lilith rolled her eyes.

“Come, Edalyn, let us make some tea for our guests,” she said and disappeared down the hall.

~ 

Her head hurt.

The back of her head hurt something awful as she squeezed her eyes closed

“Amity, you’re awake!” Luz’s loud voice made her wince and she automatically reached out to smack the woman for being so loud so early in the morning. As she came to though she realized that it was not early in the morning and she was not laying in bed with Luz. It was early evening judging by the lack of birds she usually heard the first thing in the morning outside her home, and she and Luz hadn’t even kissed since they’d been reunited, much less slept in the same space. 

Slowly the events of earlier came back to her and she could see flashes of herself in her mind's eye, hacking at Luz and then chasing down her sister, staring up at her with terror and tears in her eyes, and then it had all gone dark.

Her eyes popped open and she quickly sat up, nearly smacking into Luz as she did. 

“Where are Ed and Em?!” she looked around wildly.

“We’re here!”

“We’re fine!” 

The two were suddenly at her side and she breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing the two of them unharmed. 

“Do you remember what happened?” Luz asked her gently and she nodded, pressing a hand to her forehead, she had a headache

“Mostly… we were in the mead hall and then I didn’t feel right… What happened?” she looked up at them and Luz glanced at the twins, who shared a guilty expression. 

“We noticed you’ve been tired and stressed lately,” Emira said. “So…” she looked anywhere but her sister.

“We wanted to help you relax…,” Edric continued. “So, we got an herb from an old peddler…”

“That turned out to be the god of mischief…,” Emira mumbled and Luz winced at that, feeling partially responsible.. “...and put it in your mead.” her sister finished.

Amity blinked at them for a moment, trying to process what they had just said and they knew when she had as her mouth pulled up into a snarl and her eyes narrowed dangerously.

“You drugged me!?” She shouted, jumping up to tower over the kneeling twins, who flinched as she snarled down at them.

“We just wanted to help!” Edric said and Emira nodded.

“I almost killed you!” Amity practically screamed at the two and drug her hand violently through her hair for no other reason than to keep them from wrapping around her siblings’ necks.

“It was supposed to relax you….”

“You shouldn’t have done it in the first place, ugh!” she turned and stormed out of the house. 

The twins didn’t seem to know what to do. They could hardly think of a time they had seen the jarl that furious, other than in her berserker trance. 

“I’ll go after her.” Luz stood and trotted after Amity. They didn’t move to follow.

The jarl hadn’t gone far, just beyond the treeline, where she was angrily pacing back and forth.

“Amity…,” she called gently.

The jarl glanced at her but didn’t stop her pacing. Luz took this as a sign to speak.

Luz better-explained everything that had transpired, including her brother's involvement.

“I’m sorry Amity…," Luz mumbled and Amity waved a hand at her.

“You don’t control your siblings, Luz, just as I obviously, don’t control mine,” she growled, still stalking around. "They should never have… I almost killed them, butchered my own sister!" She pressed the heels of her hands against her eyes. Luz stepped forward but hesitated a moment before finally wrapping an arm around her shoulders. Amity leaned into her hold, cheek on her shoulder, and sighed, glad for the familiar, comforting embrace. 

“If I had killed them…,” she trailed off, voice warbling and Luz squeezed her tighter. 

“I know, but you didn’t, it’s okay…,” she mumbled and Amity buried her face into her chest. Her body was trembling and Luz held her tightly for a while til she calmed herself. 

Amity sighed and pulled herself out of the gods' hold with a sigh. 

“Feel better?” Luz asked with a smile and she nodded, wiping at her eyes.

“Yes… I feel bad for what I did to you as well…” she frowned, looking at the various slashes and rips in Luz’s tunic. 

“Invulnerable, remember? You didn’t hurt me,” she assured her with a smile. Amity just hummed but nodded. “Ready to head back?” 

She nodded and they returned to the house where the oracle sisters were hanging around in the doorway with the twins standing outside, waiting. They perked up the moment they saw the two and hurried over.

“Amity… were so sorry… we didn’t mean for that to happen.” Emira frowned at her.

“We just wanted to help you relax, we know all the fighting had you run down is all.” Edric rubbed his arm.

Amity took a deep breath.

“I know you just wanted to help… but I almost killed you both. Do you have any idea how that would have made me feel?” she frowned, looking between them. 

The two seemed to shrink into themselves.

“We just… after that plague wiped out most of Hexhaven and our parents, we didn’t think we’d ever belong somewhere again… until you found us in that market and took us back to Boneshaven… we just wanted to...” Edric’s voice faded.

“We want to be able to repay that somehow… we just want to be useful, or at least not be a burden to you,” Emira finished for them.

Amity blinked at the two of them in confusion.

“You’re my brother and sister, I brought you back because I love you and I want you with me, even if your jests can be… burdensome,” she huffed. “I appreciate what you were trying to do, but please… don’t help me try to relax anymore,” she said.

“Right… we won’t,” Edric said and Emira nodded in agreement as Amity turned to the sisters.

“Thank you for your help.” she nodded.

“Don’t mention it.” Eda waved a hand. “Assisting the champions of the gods is what we do.” 

“You didn’t DO anything,” Lilith huffed.

“Regardless…, thank you.” 

“Yeah! Thanks, Lilith, Eda, I’m indebted to you both.” Luz smiled at them.

“Ohh, a favor from a god, now that might be useful…” Eda scratched her chin looking thoughtful.

“Unnecessary, Luz. To serve the gods is our duty,” Lilith said and Eda frowned.

“You’re no fun,” she grumbled. “Greeny here didn’t ax anyone anyway.. .well, except you.” she chuckled. 

“Ah, where is my ax?” Amity turned to the twins, who shrugged and Amity felt a pang in her chest that the beautifully crafted weapon Luz had gifted to her had been lost in the chaos. 

“Luz has it,” Eda said, causing all eyes to turn to the god of light.

“I do?” she blinked at the oracle, who smirked and made a twirling motion with her finger. Luz turned around and sure enough, there was the ax, still lodged deep into her back. “Huh, well what do you know? I guess I forgot about it!” she laughed.

“By the gods, Luz!” Amity looked at the ax, horrified to see the blade lodged deep into Luz’s flesh. “I’m so sorry!” 

“It's fine!” she waved both hands at the jarl. “Doesn’t even tickle! Just pull it out!” 

Amity made a face as she grabbed hold of the shaft and gave a tug, it was lodged deep into Luz's back. She frowned and tightened her grip on the shaft and pulled, but still it did not move. Grunting, Amity pressed one booted foot into the small of Luz's back and yanked backward, ripping the blade free and sending the god of light careening forward to the ground.

“Luz!” Amity yelped.

“I’m fine!” she assured, climbing back to her feet and brushing the dirt from her tunic. “Never better!” she grinned.

Amity quickly made her way behind the god and could see the large tear in her tunic, but the skin beneath was whole and unblemished. She testingly ran her fingers over it and Luz shivered. Amity blinked up at her as she looked over her shoulder at the warrior.

"Sorry… you're…,” she stopped and just shrugged. She was going to say her hands were cold, but that would have been a lie, and she wasn’t sure Amity would appreciate her saying that her hands felt good on her skin in front of her siblings and the oracle sisters, so she elected to say nothing. 

“I’m going to have to get used to that…,” Amity admitted, taking a step back. “We need to get back to the village, thank you again.” she turned to the sisters who nodded.

“I’ll visit soon!” Luz grinned and waved as they went on their way. 

On the trail back they found Luz’s abandoned fur cloak, which Amity dusted off and handed to her.

“I was afraid I’d lost it…” she smiled, wrapping it back around her shoulders.

Luz stopped outside the gates of the village, it was dark now and she knew she needed to go.

The three mortals noticed she had stopped and also came to halt.

“I should go…,” she said with a shrug. 

Amity turned back to her siblings who seemed to understand and the two waved goodbye to Luz before turning and heading inside the village as Amity walked up to her.

“I’m sorry our afternoon was wasted with… this.” she waved a hand and made a disgruntled face as Luz chuckled. 

“It's alright, I’ll be back, and I’m just glad you and the twins are okay… I’ll be having words with Gus tonight, be sure of that.”

“Right,” Amity chuckled, a smile pulling at her lips. “Thank you for that…,” she said and Luz cocked her head. “For shielding Emira from me…”

“Oh, you don’t have to thank me for that, it’s not like it hurt me or anything, kind of detracts from the act.” she shrugged and Amity shook her head.

“Not to me it doesn’t.” she didn’t hesitate this time as she rose up on her toes to press a quick kiss to the god's cheek. “I’ll see you soon…” she mumbled before turning and hurrying through the village gates, missing the stunned look on Luz’s face as well as the bright grin that soon overtook it and her eyes began to glow with unconcealed joy.

She turned and ran back through the woods, practically skipping.

~ ~

It was a few days later when the God of light appeared again in Boneshaven, but not alone.

Which Amity noticed quickly as she approached her.

"I was starting to wonder when you'd come back." Amity smiled at her. "What do you have there?" she asked the god.

Under one arm Luz carried a large, pale white, wolf pup.

“It’s a wolf pup, I talked to Gus and he never meant for the twins to use the hensbane on you, Boscha also was not pleased with him. That’s beside the point, one of his wolves gave birth in midsummer and he gave me a pup to give to you as a token of his apology." She grinned and held the animal put to Amity, who was staring at it with wide eyes. A wolf pup, born from one of the god of mischief's own wolves.

"I couldn't accept…"

"He insisted, and I do too. This little guy will grow up to be a smart, and ferocious warrior, I think he'd be a perfect companion for you, Amity, he'll be your loyal protector," she said, continuing to hold the furry little beast out to her.

It looked up at Amity with bright red eyes and a little pink nose.

"He's so cute…" she bit her lip and Luz grinned, knowing she was going to win this battle of attrition.

"He's soft too…," she singsonged, pushing the pup into Amity's arms.

He was soft. He looked up at her and made a quiet whimpering sound.

"Alright fine!" She relented, snuggling the creature close, a smile pulled at her lips. Luz grinned as well and Amity looked up at her curiously after a moment.

"This isn't a relative of yours is it?"

"Wh- No!" 

"Just checking, your twin brother is a wolf after all," she smirked as she scratched the little wolf’s ears. 

Luz opened her mouth to argue but stopped short.

“That’s fair…” Luz nodded, making Amity laugh. Luz only continued to smile. 

She had a good feeling that when her brother had offered up one of his wolf's pups as compensation for the trouble she and the jarl had endured, Luz knew she would love it.

"He's adorable…," Amity cooed and Luz couldn't help but feel a twinge and jealousy but was quick to shove it away. Eventually, she desperately hoped, Amity would hold her again too.

"You'll have to come up with a name for him," she said.

"I think I have one already," she hummed, scratching beneath the pup's chin.

"Oh?"

"Otabin." she nodded.

"Why Otabin?" Luz cocked her head.

Amity seemed to pause, considering, but finally looked back up at the god of light.

"When I was very young and my parents… did the things they did, I would console myself with the thought of a pretend friend to keep me company, I called him Otabin." she explained with a shrug, trying not to do all too much on the thought. 

She glanced up at Luz from beneath her lashes, wondering what she thought of that, or rather, what she would think of her for such a ridiculous thing.

The look on the god's face wasn't pity, as she feared, just simple, sad understanding and it made her heart shudder.

"I think that's perfect." Luz nodded. "Otabin," she agreed, reaching out and scratching between the wolf's ears. Amity buried her face into his white fur to hide her smile.


	12. Chapter 12

Boscha was humming, loudly to herself as the two of them trailed through the woods toward the village of Boneshaven. She was looking forward to seeing Willow, Luz knew that without even having to ask, if she were honest; it kind of poked at the younger god’s nerves.

Not that she didn’t really want to see Amity, she did! She missed the jarl whenever they were apart, which was still more than she wanted.

She was just disappointed that they were in the dead of winter and she had not progressed any farther with Amity than the occasional, and brief, kiss to the cheek. 

Her sister wasn’t exactly flaunting the nights she stayed with the herbalist, but she made no effort to hide it either.

Jealousy bubbled up in Luz’s gut, which she quickly stomped back down, reminding herself that she had gotten into this mess all by herself. Before all her lying had come to light, she had been all but ready to ask Amity to be her wife, essentially had, without the asking part, and the jarl probably would have accepted.

Now, they were here instead, and all because of her. 

She sighed, frustrated.

For someone who had lived as long as she had, Luz was not accustomed to exercising such patience, she was going to do as Amity wanted, she would wait, as long as she needed to, but there were days where she wanted nothing more than to curl up in bed with Amity again, to hold her close, and watch her sleep peacefully.

Things had actually been pretty busy in Asgard, so on top of all that, so she hadn’t seen Amity in over two weeks, and she was not ashamed to say she missed her

"You have that look on your face…" 

Luz looked up at the sound of her sister's voice.

"Huh?" Is her eloquent response.

"You've got that sad look on your face again that says you're thinking about your champion," Boscha clarified and Luz frowned, a little annoyed that she was so easily readable.

"I haven't seen her recently, I miss her," she said and her sister nodded.

"When I saw her last I'm sure Willow wanted to knock my block off. The time apart was much needed," She snorted to herself and Luz felt that prickly sensation again.

"Well, you can see her whenever you want," Luz snapped and Boscha shot her a look.

"Don't snap at me because the jarl is still holding you at arm's length." The god of storms sniffed disdainfully. "I told you the longer you waited to tell her the truth the worse off it was going to be," she said, crossing her arms as an icy winter wind whipped at their cloaks, making her shiver, but Luz didn’t so much as bat an eye, though she did turn away from her sister ashamed.

She was right of course. 

It was one thing to be jealous of the fact that her sister could come and go from the village at her whim, it was another to actually voice those feelings. Her sister had been right, was still right. This mess was of her own making and she had no right to take it out on her sister or anyone else.

She was just frustrated by the lack of physical affection she was permitted to express.

Luz had always been the touchy-feely type, ask anyone of her siblings and they would tell you as much. She was always hanging off Hooty along with Gus or letting King tote her around on his back when he allowed it and burying her face into his warm fur. Even she and Boscha had their own things, though sparring would not normally be classified as ‘affection’ it was for the god of strength.

She was physically affectionate with all her loved ones and had been with Amity before, so the forced separation was hard, Luz found it difficult to show affection with words, they had never been her strong suit, but she now found herself being only able to use her words as Amity would allow little else. What was allowed was sparse and for Amity alone to doll out when she decided it appropriate, which as much as she didn't like it, was only fair.

She wasn't the one who had been hurt. They had to move at the jarls pace

It hadn't been explicitly stated, but Luz knew that she herself couldn't give any of the small, allowed affections outside the occasional hug or holding the jarls hand, and honestly, she ate up whatever she gave her.

It hurt her to be kept away, especially because she knew Amity loved her as much as she loved her, she did.

Obviously, Amity had a much stronger will.

“Stop with the faces…,” Boscha grumbled. “We’re here.” she nodded her head and Luz looked up and sure enough they were standing in front of the village gates.

The sight of the familiar village did wipe the pensive look off her face as she moved quickly through the gates and headed straight for Amity’s home on the hill that looked down over the rest of the village. 

As she passed by the village children playing in the snow waved and called her name. She smiled and waved back at them. She would deny it, saying she adored all of them, but Amity had a favorite, Braxus, and he called to her the loudest.

“Luz, come play with us!” His unusually deep and scratchy voice echoed over the snowy ground as he and several other children quickly crossed it to clamor at her legs, pulling at her cloak and tunic.

Her smile took on a sadder look, she hated to disappoint the village children, but she really wanted to see Amity right now, even though she wasn't expecting her today.

"Sorry, I can't right now, I'm on my way to see Amity," she said, and they all groaned, clinging all the tighter to her and some grabbing her arms. She laughed and held them in the air, making them giggle and squeal, giddy. Meanwhile, her sister had caught up to her and stood a few feet away, arms crossed as she watched Luz indulge the village brats.

"You're so strong!" One of the kids looked up at Luz's tall and lean frame with open wonder.

"Oh please…," Boscha grumbled, flinging back her tattered, crimson cloak, ready to show the village children what strength really looked like when a voice stopped her.

"You have to admit, she is pretty strong." 

Both gods looked up to see Amity and Willow both approaching, looking amused.

A grin broke out across the storm god's face as she made a beeline straight for the herbalist, wrapping her up in her arms and planting a smoldering kiss to her mouth that made all the village children groan and Luz made a face.

Amity rolled her eyes at her closest friend and advisor before her gaze fell on Luz, who was making a disgruntled face.

She knew from Willow, who had of course heard It from the storm god, that Luz was rather snippy about Boscha and Willow's strange relationship. They argued, a lot, yet were extremely physically affectionate. Amity couldn't puzzle it out herself, and when asking the herbalist, all she could do was shrug and say she liked a challenge; whatever that meant.

She liked to think she knew the god of light pretty well at this point, and it didn't take a genius to know why Luz looked so grouchy, watching her sister kiss the herbalist, and Amity snorted to herself as she waded up to Luz through the gaggle of children, who were quick to part for the village leader as she shooed them away to return to playing in the snow. They do, albeit, reluctantly.

Amity popped up on her toes long enough to press a quick but firm kiss to Luz's cheek.

"Hey," she smiled at her, and Luz's face lit up like the sun peeking over the horizon at dawn and even out here in the cold, her breath coming out in a pale cloud, her insides warmed, Luz always had that kind of effect on her. 

"Hey, were you two leaving?" Luz asked, noticing the bow and quiver hanging off Amity's shoulder.

"I need some things from the far edges of the eastern forest and Amity is coming along for protection," Willow piped up once she had extracted herself from the god of storms arms.

Boscha seemed to take great offense to this.

"Why would you need the jarl to protect you when you have the god of strength and storms?!" Boscha hooked a thumb to herself, prompting Willow to roll her eyes mightily at the redhead.

"First of all, you just got here, Boscha." Willow crossed her arms and leveled the tall woman with a flat look.

"Well I'm here right now!" she bellowed, planting her hands on her hips as the two lovers stared each other down.

Luz wasn't sure she would ever understand her sister's relationship with the village herbalist. One minute the god of storms was falling all over herself, smitten and wrapped up in each other, and the next they were yelling and arguing with each other. In each other's faces or from across the mead mall.

"I also thought I might do some hunting while we were out," the jarl added but was summarily ignored by the two as they continue to glare at each other.

"I'd go hunting with you," Luz offered and Amity smiled up at her, but it was most certainly tinted with amusement.

"We've been hunting together before, Luz. I know how you hunt, and I'm not sure hunting is the right word for it," Amity giggled, but she underestimated how insecure the god of light had been feeling lately, especially standing next to her warrior sister and her lover who actually allowed herself to be loved. Well, sort of, if the way the two were glaring at each other was any indication. She realized this a moment too late as hurt briefly flashed across Luz's face before being smothered and covered with a defiant and determined look.

"I can hunt," she declared fiercely as she stood at full height, towering a whole head over the jarl, making Amity blink up at her.

"And I can protect you!" Boscha was set off by her sister's loud proclamation. "So let's go!" she said and turned on heel, walking back towards the village gate.

Willow sighed tiredly and rubbed her temple, but started off after the god of thunder, all the while mumbling to herself under her breath that she needed a drink.

"So?" Luz looked at Amity, who sighed through her nose. She knew there was not going to be any persuading her deific love now that her mind was set on proving that she could hunt.

"Alright." She nodded and Luz grinned.

"Let's go!" She turned and hurried off after her sister and the herbalist while Amity sighed and shook her head.

"Odin, protect me from your daughters…," she mumbled to herself and she followed off after them.

The trek through the forests heading Eastward went fairly smoothly, they saw no other people and few animals, at least not the type the god of light and her champion was after.

Boscha, for her part, kept a strict vigil as they moved to the woods, determined to show the herbalist that she didn't need to rely on anyone else for protection.

not that Willow couldn't take fine care of herself, as she had proven before when given a mace, but it was easier to have someone else watch her back while she rooted through the snow for plants.

Eventually, the terrain grew rockier, steeper, and thinner as they entered the eastern woods.

"The plants I need grow near the river," Willow said as they made their way to its banks. 

"So, where all the animals tend to gather…," Boscha hummed to herself as they looked around, she didn't see much at the moment. Willow knelt down in the snow and started shoving it to the side, searching. 

Luz and Amity moved further down the river away from them. Amity glanced at the god from the corner of her eye. She seemed to have lost that intense look from earlier as they walked along in companionable silence. 

She took the opportunity to reach over and lace her fingers with Luz's. The god turned to look at her and Amity only smiled, making Luz grin back, face lighting up as she gently squeezed the hand in hers.

Luz's hands were warm, they always were, all of her was and it seeped into Amity through their hands. She wondered if this was one of the god's subtle little abilities because it wasn't just her hand that warmed. It felt like it was spreading through her whole body, warming her from the inside, especially as Luz's thumb began to run back and forth across her knuckles, sending a shiver up her spine that was completely unrelated to the winter cold.

She'd missed these moments. Just being together, relaxed, like what had happened hadn't, but it had, and Amity still had a few reservations, but they withered more and more with every passing day, they only barely hung on now, clinging to her own fears and insecurities.

She especially missed waking up in Luz's warm arms on the cold mornings, though she now knew the god didn't actually sleep, only watched her as she did; not that she minded.

A sudden sound in the forest made them freeze and Amity let go of Luz's hand, much to her disappointment, to pull the bow from her shoulder and notch an arrow on its string.

She was perfectly still and Luz watched her, fascinated by the complete control Amity exhibited over herself. 

The underbrush rustled and a doe came bursting out of the bushes, throwing up snow as it ran.

Amity loosed an arrow and it grazed the creature's back leg, but ultimately missed, embedding itself into a tree.

Amity cursed under her breath and gave chase, Luz on her heels as it ran back along the banks of the river from the direction they had come, flinging snow in every direction.

It rounded the corner ahead of them and a few seconds later a blast of lightning lit the area.

Amity scowled, she already had a pretty good idea of what had just happened.

Sure enough, the moment they rounded the bend after it they skidded to a stop. The deer laid dead at their feet, still smoking from the blast of lightning it had just taken.

Boscha stood over it grinning proudly to herself.

"Luz, look, I can hunt and protect Flowers at the same time," she laughed, hands on her hips while Willow rolled her eyes at the god.

"I was chasing that quarry," Amity said and Boscha shrugged.

"I made the kill."

"There's hardly any skill with shooting it with lightning…," Amity grumbled and Boscha narrowed her eyes, standing straighter as if about to argue with the jarl when Willow laid a hand on her shoulder.

“You’re a very impressive hunter, now stop.” she leveled her with a look and Boscha huffed and grabbed the deer by the legs, moving to string it up and gut it.

Luz made a face as she watched her sister proudly haul the animal into a nearby tree.

Maybe it wasn't the most impressive way to make a kill, but her sister had still made a kill while Luz was left looking the lesser for it.

She needed to catch something, anything to prove to the others, especially Amity that she could hunt, that she was useful!

“Boscha did kill it…, but I'll kill something next!” she declared, which made snorts of laughter erupt from Boscha, who almost dropped the deer on herself.

“You?” she asked, grinning, and Luz flushed brightly. She could feel Amity’s eyes on her, while Willow was giving the older god an annoyed look. “You’re a lot of things, Luz, but a warrior or a hunter has never been any of them,” the storm god crossed her arms over her chest as she looked down at Luz. “The first time you went hunting with father, you ran straight off the mountainside chasing that boar; if it wasn’t for your invulnerability you’d be dead,” she reminded Luz, whose face continued to darken redder by the second. She heard Amity let out a quiet snicker and that made something in the god snap.

She raised herself up and without another word, turned and stalked back the way they had been going earlier, away from her sister and Willow, toward the rocky slopes.

“Luz, where are you going?” Amity called at her back as she quickly walked off. 

“I’m going to catch something!” the god of light replied without a backward glance.

She could hear her footsteps in the snow not too far behind her though. 

"Luz, you don't even have a weapon," Amity said as they walked.

"Not true." Luz held up a finger and dug inside her tunic and pulled out an intricately designed dagger. "I have this dagger my uncle gave me."

"...and what sort of game do you intend to hunt with a dagger?" Amity asked, brow cocked in question, directed at the back of her head.

“Whatever I find,” is the self-assured answer that made Amity sigh.

“Luz…,” she mumbled, exasperated to herself, but the god heard it and a pang went right through her chest at that. Amity didn’t think she could do it either.

“Just stay here if you don’t want to come then!” she snapped over her shoulder and the sound of Amity’s footsteps crunching in the snow immediately halted.

“Luz?” she called, but Luz just stomped onward toward the cliffs

Amity stared at the retreating god in shock as she walked away. Luz had never even raised her voice at her, much less yelled at her before. She chewed her bottom lip. She knew she had been a little grouchy earlier, taking some offense to her comments about hunting before they had left the village, but the one time they had hunted together, Luz had been trying to strangle a boar to death.

A hunter she wasn’t.

She’d seemed to perk up though after, happily holding her hand. She wracked her brain over the last few minutes, trying to decide what could cause the sudden change in the god but came up blank.

“Luz…” she breathed.

~

Luz trudged through the ice and snow around the base of the mountain they had been hunting around, looking for anything at all she could and bring back. Game was a little sparse this close to the mountain where little vegetation grew for prey animals to eat, but she was not going to return to her sister nor Amity, empty-handed. 

Now it was a matter of principle, her sister had embarrassed her and Amity had laughed at her, she couldn’t go back with nothing!

She continued to grumble to herself, ignoring the painful prickling in her chest the more she thought about it.

She’d gone hundreds upon hundreds of years with never knowing pain, but within a year of having met the Jarl of Boneshaven Luz had felt more pain than ever before, all without a single wound being inflicted; no physical wound at any rate.

She’d just been so frustrated overall lately really. 

Maybe her siblings had the right idea, and killing something would make her feel better. She was willing to try anything at this point. Her whole body was coiled with tension and she had no idea how to even begin relieving it.

She stopped to look around, surveying the wood around her, and her eyes alighted upon fresh tracks in the snow, hooves of some kind. 

She lit up and quickly followed them, dagger in hand.

The tracks vanished around a bend and she ducked behind some brush to peek at her new quarry.

She saw it, standing near the water, and grinned to herself. 

This would be perfect.

~  
Amity walked up to Boscha and Willow, the latter digging through the snow and putting plants in her satchel. She looked up as her friend approached and frowned, noticing the missing deity. 

“Where’s Luz?” she asked and Amity’s face soured.

“I don’t know. I told her I wasn’t sure about her trying to hunt with a dagger and she told me not to bother coming, then and stalked off on her own,” she grumbled, crossing her arms. 

“They're having a lover's spat,” Boscha teased and Amity snarled at her. Willow slapped the god's leg admonishingly. 

“I don’t know what is wrong with her lately…,” she trailed off, looking off into the woods and frowning to herself. Boscha snorted at that.

“I do, it’s you… and maybe me today.” she shrugged.

“You, I believe…,” Amity huffed and Boscha frowned. “But what have I done?” she asked.

“Nothing… which is the problem. She hasn’t said as much, but I know my sister. She’s frustrated by your keeping your distance. Not, that I blame you after everything that happened!” she quickly threw in before either of the mortals could jump all over her. “But Luz is… sensitive and very, very affectionate. You keeping her at arm's length is hard for her. She doesn't know what to do, and you haven't exactly been clear about how you feel as you keep her away,” The god of storms said, crossing her arms. 

Amity’s brows furrowed between her eyes as she turned to look at Willow as she stood from the snow, brushing dirt from her knees, the question in her eyes was clear.

“Well, everyone understands, and taking your time this go-round is the smart thing, but you might want to reassure her that you do, in fact, care. She has seemed kind of… mopey lately.” Willow said, unsure how the jarl would react. Boscha nodded in agreement.

Amity frowned, thinking.

Maybe she hadn’t been very vocal to Luz about just how far they had come since winter had begun, every time she thought to voice this, something had happened to distract her. Meetings with villagers or getting drugged by her siblings. 

She’d heard later that the god of storms had given the god of mischief hell for getting into her plants for that situation in particular.

They had come a long way. She had few reservations left, but how could Luz know that if she didn’t tell her? She had no idea where they stood.

She needed to talk to her.

“When she comes back, we’ll talk,” she finally said and Willow nodded, smiling, but Boscha was looking off into the trees, eyes narrowed. 

“Do you hear that?” she asked.

The others got quiet and sure enough, there was a loud sound in the woods, like… running? 

It was getting louder and louder, snow crunching and wood snapping. Boscha moved to shield the herbalist, hand moving to the hilt of her hammer as Amity reached for her ax

The ground trembled under their feet. 

“What the-” Before Boscha could finish that sentence an enormous elk burst through the trees, running straight for them, kicking and bucking wildly. The scattered, jumping out of the way.

The god of light was hanging onto its antlers and trying in vain to slit its throat with her dagger.

“Just hold still damnit!” she screamed as it jumped and bucked, trying to fling her loose.

“Luz!” Boscha yelled before shoving Willow out of the way before a powerful hoof could put a hole through her. ‘What are you doing!?”

“Hunting!” 

The beast’s legs were flinging every which way and sending up snow and dirt. Amity barely jumped out of the way before one could knock her into unconsciousness, or worse, diving into the snow. 

“Amity!” Luz called and then the beast took advantage of her distraction and gave a mighty shake of its head, sending the god of light flying. She hit the trunk of a nearby tree, the wood giving off a loud crack as she crashed into it. The powerful leg came down and Amity barely rolled out of the way in time to avoid being crushed. 

“Alright, that’s enough!” Boscha scowled from her place crouched over Willow protectively. She jumped up, hammer clutched in hand and just as it turned toward her, she swung, the heavy metal smashed into its skull. Bits of antler and blood went flying as a sickening cracking sound filled the air and the creature dropped to the ground, dead. 

Luz jumped up quickly and ran over to the jarl, still pulling herself up off the ground.

“Amity, are you okay? I’m-” 

“What is wrong with you today?!” Amity turned to yell at the god of light, who flinched as she climbed to her feet. Willow took one look between the two and quickly grabbed Boscha’s elbow.

“We’ll, um... wait for you two beyond the trees…,” she said, and quickly pulled the storm god away, hammer still in hand.

“Wait…,” Boscha protested but let herself be pulled away.

“Well?” Amity threw out her arms, demanding an explanation. “You’ve been grouchy and moody all day and then you almost kill Willow and I by enraging an elk because you suddenly have to be a hunter, why?!” she took a step forward.

“I just…” Luz mumbled, shrinking in on herself and looking anywhere but at Amity. 

“Just tell me why!” 

“I just wanted to show you that I could be useful too!” Luz finally shouted, frustrated, her voice echoing off the bare trees and snow. 

Amity blinked wide, gold eyes up at her. She’s too stunned to even utter a sound in response, which only prods Luz onward.

“I wanted to show you that I could do something useful…,” she said again, hands hanging at her side and looking down at the snow, unable to meet Amity’s gaze. “What good is my divinity if I can’t use it for anything useful?” She scowled to herself. “I’m not even comparable to you, much less my sister!” she threw an arm in the direction the other god and the herbalist had disappeared in before letting it drop back to her side tiredly. All the anger seeming to drain out of her. “What good am I to you?” she mumbled, only just loud enough that the jarl heard it. She chanced a glance up at Amity. She was looking at the god with wide eyes, mouth hanging ajar. 

Luz couldn’t stand it.

“Luz… I don’t...,” Amity started once what she’d said had sunk in, but Luz was quickly walking past her in the same direction as Willow and Boscha.

“Let’s just go…,” she mumbled walking quickly, feet crunching in the snow. Amity just frowned at her back before following silently. 

The walk back to Boneshaven is quiet, even Boscha doesn’t say anything, elk slung over her shoulders while Willow carried the deer she’d killed earlier. They glance silently at each other, but they don't need to say anything. 

Luz stood a good distance away from the jarl, frowning as she beat herself up.

The day had been such a complete disaster!

She’d shown up in a bad mood and it had only gotten worse, then she’d failed to catch anything and almost gotten the two mortals hurt, maybe even killed by the raging elk.

It was no wonder Amity was still staying away. 

What a depressing thought that was.

The sun had sunk below the horizon already but the sky was still aglow with the faint, and fast fading, final rays of light; a pale glow along the skyline that was quickly darkening. 

She sighed and looked up to find herself just inside the gates of Boneshaven. Willow and Boscha were speaking to each other in hushed tones before the herbalist nodded and moved onward toward her home, but Boscha stopped to look at her sister over her shoulder.

“I’m staying here for the night… so you’ll be heading back on your own,” she said, trying to say it as softly as possible but there were few ways to do so. Luz just nodded, not looking at the god of storms, who elected to say nothing else, simply gave the jarl a nod before she turned to follow Willow.

“I’m going to go,” Luz said once they were alone.

“Luz, wait… please?” Amity stopped her, the god couldn’t have denied the request if she wanted, “I’m going to go put my things away, but then I want to talk to you, alright?” 

Luz clenched her fists beneath her cloak but gave a sharp nod. 

“Just wait here,” Amity told her before hurrying off toward her home.

Luz watched her go with a frown, contemplating just going, maybe it would be best to put yet more space between them, she’d been acting like a fool today.

She’d just wanted so badly to prove to Amity that she was worth something, that she could provide and be someone she would be proud to have at her side, maybe then she’d want her close. Instead, she’d only made a mess of it all. She was getting quite good at that it seemed. 

She glanced around the village while she waited. It wasn't as quiet as she would have expected for this time of early evening. The village children were still running around in the snow squealing and laughing while they played.

It didn't take them long to notice the God of light standing in front of the village gates.

"Luz!" One of them screeched and then the whole gaggle of them were mobbed around her feet, vying for her attention and begging her to play with them now that she was back and dragging her by the hand over to the patch of snow where they had been playing.

She couldn't help but smile at them, though it was tinged with the melancholy she felt.

"I can't play tonight, I have to leave very soon," she told them and they all frowned or moaned at the news and made disappointed noises.

Luz frowned. She never could stand seeing the village children disappointed and hummed to herself thoughtfully before an idea came to her. 

"Besides, wouldn't you rather play with the fireflies?" she asked, kneeling on the ground to be eye level with most of them.

One small girl made a flabbergasted noise.

"It's the middle of winter, there aren't any fireflies!" she announced and the other children all made noises of agreement.

Luz made a tsking noise and smiled at them, eyes taking on a faint glow she hoped they wouldn't really notice.

"But you forgot what tonight is!" she said and they all looked at each other before looking back to her.

"What's tonight?" Braxus asked, and Luz grinned. 

"It's the night of the fireflies." With that, a small flash of light lit up near her face followed quickly by another and then another. The children all gasped as the air around them was filled with the faint glowing of fireflies flying through the air.

One of them suddenly squealed with excitement and the rest soon followed, running around through the snow chasing after the little bugs.

Luz chuckled to herself as she stood back up, the glow of her eyes fading as she watched their faces light up with amazement and wonder.

They ran to and fro, even running into each other at times as they tried in vain to catch some of the little lights.

Luz grinned but the grin quickly fell away into a look of surprise as a pair of arms wrapped around her waist.

She glanced over her shoulder to find Amity, leaning into her, chin resting in the divot between her shoulder blades and smiling up at her adoringly, the occasional flash of a Firefly lighting up her face. Her warm breath tickled the back of Luz’s neck.

[](https://ibb.co/X361z4y)

"Seems to me your powers are quite useful to some people…," she said.

"I... just like to make them happy…," she mumbled.

"I know you do... Luz, you're not a warrior or a hunter… but that doesn't mean you aren't useful, you're the god of light…"

Children continued to shriek with laughter across the village as they chased the lightning bugs.

"... And joy." She smiled, squeezing Luz tighter.

"Amity…," she started, not sure what else to say.

"Luz, you’re so sweet, gentle, and kind… you don't need to be 'useful' for me to want you around, you know? I like having you around no matter what, but you are needed, even if you don't believe it."

"It... hasn't felt like it…" she frowned, looking away.

Amity frowned and pulled back enough to prod the god to turn around and face her. She did so, reluctantly, and looked down at her.

"I know things have been… difficult for us lately…," she started.

"Because of me though," Luz mumbled, frowning.

"And I know things haven't been progressing as quickly as I'm sure you'd like them to," she went on as though Luz hadn't said anything, making the light god flinch. "I'm sorry it's taking me so long…" 

Luz's eyes widened at that.

"What? No! You don't have anything to apologize for, it’s me that-" 

A finger on her lips stopped anything she was about to say

"But…,". Amity went on, a small smile pulling at her lips. "I do love you, Luz, very much. You know that don't you?" she asked, pulling her finger away to cup one of the god's warm and flushed cheeks as she looked up at her questioningly. 

Luz reached up and pressed her hand over Amity's, savoring the warmth of her skin on hers, and nodded.

“I know, I’m just… not very patient, apparently,” she mumbled. “I love you, Amity, so much… I want to make up for before, for hurting you. I want to be what you deserve,” she whispered, brown eyes locked with gold and the next thing Luz knew was Amity jolting upward onto her toes and her lips slanting across Luz’s for the first time in six months. She wasn’t sure what to do for a moment but quickly wrapped her arms around the shorter woman’s waist and held her tightly, kissing her back with a fervor worthy of six months apart, especially when Amity’s fingers dug into the hair at the back of her neck and pulled her closer still, and kissed her breathless. 

Amity was panting when she finally pulled back to meet her eyes and blinked in surprise, seeing the taller woman’s eyes glowing.

“I missed that… a lot.” Luz grinned and Amity chuckled.

“Your… eyes are glowing…”

“Oh,” she breathed a laugh. “I’m just happy.” she shrugged, squeezing Amity closer.

“I’ve never seen them do that before…,” is her unsure response and Luz knows what she’s thinking. She pressed her forehead against Amity’s and smiled.

“I had to suppress it before, but they always try to glow when I’m with you,” she assured and felt Amity relax in her grip, closing her eyes and enjoying the god’s warmth. 

The guilt that had been eating at Luz all evening finally won out.

“I’m sorry for snapping at you today,” she said, and Amity hummed in response.

“It’s alright…It’s not like I didn’t yell at you too…”

“Yeah, but I deserved it… I did bring that elk back to you…”

“True,” Amity said but she’s grinning and Luz can’t help herself and leaned down to plant another long kiss against the jarl’s mouth, using her height to her advantage and tipping the warrior back just enough to deepen the kiss, causing a moan to erupt from Amity’s throat and Luz to grin against her mouth. She always tastes of something so distinct, but Luz had never been able to put her finger on it; not that she didn't give it a good hard try. Amity pulled back to bury her face into the light god's chest and squeezed her waist a little tighter, panting and flushed while Luz chuckled.

“I should go…,” she mumbled sadly, pitch-black had fallen over the village and the children had all been gathered up as well, the last of the fireflies had vanished as well.

Amity frowned. She didn’t want this moment to end, wrapped up tightly in Luz's embrace; this was the most at peace she had been in months.

“Stay tonight?” she mumbled into the coarse hair of the cloak she had gifted the Aesir last year. She can feel more than hear Luz’s sharp intake of breath at the offer and the hold around her tightened but a few long moments passed before the answer finally came.

“I shouldn’t.” 

Amity looked up at that, surprised. Luz is looking back down at her fondly if a little sadly.

“You wanted things to start over and progress slowly this time, you were right, we rushed before, not even accounting for my lack of straightforwardness, I told you I wanted to do this right this time, for both of us, and one moment of vulnerability shouldn’t jeopardize that,” she said and Amity continued to stare up at her with wide, gold eyes for several seconds before she sighed, but nodded.

“You’re right…,” she said, and pressed her cheek against her chest and felt Luz’s lips press against her hair. “For now, this is enough,” she mumbled against her. Luz hummed an affirmative in her ear but squeezed her tightly to her for a long while before she decided it would be best to let go, and pulled herself from Amity’s grip. 

“I’ll be back soon, my light,” Luz said quietly and Amity’s face erupted in a bright red flush at the new pet name, but Luz just grinned and leaned down to press a kiss to her forehead before turning and going with a wave over her shoulder and then disappearing into the dark forest.

Amity feels colder now that the god has gone.


	13. Chapter 13

Amity hummed to herself as she was nearly finished with her trek around the perimeter of the village, approaching the gate, bag slung over her shoulder and Otabin at her side. She wanted to make sure everything was in order before she left for the next few days, to make things as easy on everyone as possible. Everything seemed to be in order, the gates were in fine repair after they had replaced some of the more dilapidated sections over the summer months, so there were no worries there, and they hadn't been bothered by any more attackers since that night, the night she had died.

Unconsciously she laid a hand over the hidden sigil of light that marred her flesh just below her chest. That was a strange thing to think, 'when she had died'. Few mortals could ever claim such a thing, others chosen by the gods perhaps. Though, even they were ‘just’ champions. Amity was Luz’s chosen in more ways than that. 

Suddenly the sigil seemed to emit a comforting warmth beneath her tunic, it rippled across her skin and she smiled to herself, knowing what that meant. She’d been picking up on some different things with the mark of light, and although no otherworldly powers had appeared yet, she had figured out that the mark seemed to emit a soft warmth whenever she was in the thoughts of the person on the other side of it.

Whenever Luz thought of her, it grew warm against her skin, which had the unintended side effect of warming her heart as well.

Luz would arrive soon. 

She gave a sharp whistle and Otabin, who had moved off to sniff a tree, came trotting back to her side obediently. She reached down and scratched his head between his ears. 

“We best get back before Luz gets there and the children steal her away,” she laughed to herself, but Otabin looked up at her as though agreeing.

They moved quickly back toward the main gates. 

Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted a flash of green among the bare trees and frowned as she turned to look.

A bushel of mistletoe.

She wasted not a second whipping her ax from her back and hacked the plant from its host. It fell to the ground and Otabin trotted over and sniffed it curiously. She frowned at the vile plant, the one thing in all the nine realms that could do her love harm. Amity hummed thoughtfully before she reached down and snapped some off and slipped it into her bag before picking it up and holding it out to the white wolf, who continued to smell it before Amity stood and they continued on back toward the village gates. 

Luz would be here soon. 

She moved quickly to the nearby fire burning outside the smith’s and tossed the plant into the flames, where it crackled and popped as it slowly burned to ash; good riddance.

Otabin’s deep, guttural bark made her turn and sure enough, Luz was walking through the village gates, waving at the children, who swarmed her quickly, followed closely by her pup as he ran to the familiar god’s side. Amity chuckled to herself and followed at a more leisurely pace. 

Luz was kneeling on the ground as she spoke to the children when the wolf pounced on her. She laughed trying to push him away gently as he licked at her face.

"No, Otabin!" the god of light laughed, trying to fend the beast off. A sharp whistle and he jumped down and ran back to Amity's side.

Luz grinned brightly at the sight of her and stood, wiping off her face with the back of her hand as she moved to embrace Amity, who smiled brightly to herself as the god's warm arms wrapped around her and Luz's lips pressed against her temple. Amity clutched her back, hands fisted into the back of her tunic.

"I missed you, my light." She breathed into her ear, making the jarl's face redden, but she squeezed her back before pulling away.

"Are you ready to be off?" she asked and Luz nodded. She was always ready to be off at any moment's notice since she didn't technically need to eat or sleep, Amity was sure since nothing save the little plant in her bag could do Luz harm. "Good, let me just talk with Willow and my siblings before we go," she said and Luz nodded before she followed the village leader back towards her house, waving at the children as they left.

The village herbalist was sitting outside Amity's home, talking quietly to the twins as they approached.

"Ah, we figured you two would sneak off without a word," Emira smirked when she looked up and saw the two.

Amity rolled her eyes at her sister. 

"You mean like you and Viney snuck into Willows garden the other night?" she asked, cocking a brow at her elder sister, who flushed crimson. Willow turned to the slightly older woman with a frown and narrowed green eyes.

Edric laughed at his twin's bright red face. Amity rolled her eyes and turned back to the herbalist.

"Luz and I are heading out for the next two days, you're in charge of the village till I return…," she said and Willow nodded. Edric's laughter choked to a halt.

"Hey, why not one of us?" he asked, motioning to himself and Emira. Amity made a face and Luz chuckled, turning her head away and pointedly ignoring the sour looks the twins were giving her.

"you two don't always exactly make the most rational decisions…," Amity started.

"Name one time we didn't make a rational decision." Emira planted a fist on her cocked hip.

"Just the other day you two were running around with the god of mischief and released a herd of sheep into the village," she said, crossing her arms as she stared at the two. "Before that, you set fire to a wagon…"

"To be fair it was an enemy's wagon." Emira frowned.

"How about when you drugged me with berserker's drought?" Amity frowned right back.

"You know, I think you need to work on your listing skills," Edric huffed, crossing his arms and turning his chin up.

"Yea," Emira grumbled. "We said one…"

Luz snickered and Willow rolled her eyes.

"You're in charge." Amity turned to her friend, who nodded. 

"Everything will be fine," she promised.

With that, they turned and walked back down the hill, Luz waving to the three as they left, Otabin trotting along beside them.

Amity reached over and entwined her fingers with Luz's as they left the village. She shouldered her pack a little higher. She should have everything she needed for two days.

They walked along in companionable silence for the majority of the trip aside from the occasional comment about something one of them saw. Most of the noise came from Otabin as he chased the occasional squirrel or wild rabbit he happened to see in the brush.

She had to remind herself that Otabin was going to grow to be a warrior, a protector, fierce and powerful, so the knee-high wolf pup needed to learn and be trained

She had to constantly remind herself of this as she watched him run to and fro around her legs and sniff at everything that interested him, tail wagging and tongue lolling out of his mouth, red eyes bright and shiny; he was just so adorable, it made her eyes water sometimes. 

Winter was near its end and the final snows of the season were upon them. Spring would soon be on its way, but for now, the air was still cold and the heavy, dark clouds looming overhead threatened a final blast before all was said and done.

The jarl of Boneshaven paid it little mind though as they walked along the scraggly mountain, running her thumb over the back of Luz's knuckles as they walked, following along behind the excited pup as they slowly moved upward on the mountain. 

Things had been going rather smoothly three hours into their trip, not that she had expected anything to go wrong, at least not here. How Willow dealt with her siblings and the rest of the village while she was away was another matter.

“So, are you going to tell me where we’re going?” Luz asked her at last as they continued to follow along behind Otabin on the rocky trails.

“It's a secluded valley up on the mountain. It's completely enclosed by rock except for one passage that leads back down or up to the peak, it's the perfect place to train Otabin, there won’t be much in the way of outside factors that we aren't aware of, and we can spend some time together of course." Amity smiled up at her and the god of light grinned at that and squeezed her hand, walking a little closer, her shoulder brushing hers and Amity's smile only grew stronger. 

How was it possible to love someone so much? 

“And what exactly are you teaching him?” Luz cocked her head, unlike Gus, who loved his wolves, which wasn't that strange considering one of her nephews, or King. she’d never really had any animal companions. Her twin probably didn’t count...

“Well, if he’s going to accompany me into battle he needs to learn to attack and cease on command, among other things. I also want to teach him to track.

"I see…," Luz hummed.

They were quiet the rest of the trip until they came upon a wide opening in the rock wall of the mountain.

"This way." Amity nodded and they walked through the long narrow passage, maybe forty yards long, Otabin leading the way.

Luz wasn't sure what she was expecting when they came out of the passage but the large enclosed area full of bare trees, vegetation, and even a small pond hadn't been it.

"Oh…," Luz said in awe and she looked around at the small enclosed forest atop the mountain. Otabin took off, running around and checking out every little thing as they walked further inside, the pond was frozen, at least the top was that she could tell from here.

“It’s a good controlled place to teach him, he can't go too far, and after I do a walk-through, I can be sure that there aren't any predators or anything of the like for us to worry about," Amity explained.

“How did you ever find this place?” Luz asked, looking over her shoulder at her.

Amity paused, hesitating a moment.

“My mentor took me here to train at times…”

That made Luz blink, especially as she caught sight of Amity’s distant look.

“Amity?” Luz called, but Amity was lost in her own thoughts now. Memories she hadn’t really allowed herself to think about for a long while now. Memories from this place, where she hadn’t come in a while either. 

_Amity only barely managed to duck before the thick branch could smack her on the side of the head. She danced out of the way before it could round on her a second time, whizzing just over her head._

_“You’re getting faster!” a lilting voice called with an amused laugh._

_Amity panted as she held up her own stick in an attack position, moving slowly around her opponent, looking for an opening. She’d been at this for hours now, and she was exhausted, but determined. Her training under her parents had been just as intense as this, but it didn’t carry the same do or die feeling as those training sessions had. Not to mention that the woman in front of her actually encouraged her rather than berating her anytime she missed a step or a block. Telling her what she could do to improve rather than telling her she was worthless._

_It pushed her to try harder, to be better, faster. The idea of disappointing the woman in front of her dug sharply at something soft and tender at her core. So despite the exhaustion clawing at her, she pushed on. She dashed forward and swung, but was easily dodged, and before she could twist around for a follow-up, she was smacked in the back and she faltered, crashing to her knees as they folded, out of energy to go on._

_She stayed where she fell, knees in the dirt and panting, sweat dripping down her face in rivers. Auburn hair plastered to her forehead, sticky and wet._

_A tall, lean figure knelt beside her, and Amity couldn’t help but flinch on instinct, but no strike came, only a gentle hand on her shoulder._

_“You did well, but it’s time to rest, Amity. You work too hard, child, and you’re still healing... in some ways."_

_The teenager frowned at that but glanced up to look into understanding blue-green eyes._

_“You won’t learn everything I have to teach in one day,” the voice laughed. “No need to exhaust yourself trying!”_

_“You’re right, I’m sorry -”_

“Amity!”

The jarl blinked, coming back to herself to find Luz standing in front of her looking concerned as she called out to her.

“Uh, sorry… I was just… thinking,” she mumbled.

“Are you okay?”

"I'm fine, really." Amity smiled, but Luz didn't look convinced. "Trust me," she leaned up on her toes to press a quick kiss to her cheek. "We'll talk about it later, I promise."

Luz knew well enough to drop it, Amity said she was fine and they would talk about it later. 

"I need to set up where I'm sleeping tonight," she said and started walking over toward one of the rock walls that surrounded them, Luz followed.

Once they were close enough she could see it. An opening in the rocks, maybe six ft deep, four feet tall, and maybe three across, give or take. A cubby of a hole rather than any true cavern. 

"In there?" the god questioned and Amity chuckled, looking fondly at the confused deity. 

"No, mostly the space was used for storage and we slept in front of it, or sheltered from any hard rains in it when we had to.” 

"You and your mentor?" Luz asked and Amity nodded, growing quiet again, gaze turning distant.

Luz frowned and thought Amity might need some time alone.

"I'm going to go check things out," she said, and once Amity nodded disappeared into the bushes.

Once she'd got a space set up to sleep she dug a familiar little chunk of plant from her bag and stood, dusting the dirt from her knees, and whistled for Otabin, who came tearing out of the trees a few seconds later.

Amity smiled and ruffled his fluffy white face in her hands.

“You’re such a good boy.” she smiled. “Come,” she started off, the wolf trailing loyally behind her. 

The two practiced attack commands for a fair while, getting him to catch a rabbit she spotted, darting into the underbrush. 

When she was satisfied she decided to move to tracking. 

They had practiced this a few other times with different things before and he was starting to bring her the correct thing more times than not.

He sat in front of her, waiting, and Amity pulled the sprig of mistletoe from the pouch at her belt and knelt down, holding it to his nose. He took a few tentative sniffs.

“Seek,” His ears perked, and then he was bounding off into the forest.

“Where’s he off too?” 

Amity turned and saw Luz walking up to her, watching Otabin disappear.

“I’m training him to track by scent,” she explained.

"And what is your magnificent companion tracking?" Luz chuckled and Amity hesitated a moment before showing her the tiny sprig of a plant she had saved earlier.

The look on Luz's face told Amity that she knew exactly what it was by sight.

"Why do you have that?" she asked. She didn't seem worried, or any of the things Amity feared she might, she was simply curious.

"It's one of the things I'm going to teach him to track," she explained. "It grows so many places around the village gates I… it worries me," she mumbled, looking away.

"Because of me? Luz asked, bewildered, and pointing to herself.

"Of course because of you… I just… want to be sure you're safe when you come to the village," Amity said and her face only darkened further when Luz laughed, loudly. She turned red all the way to the tips of her ears as the god of light laughed, bent over at the waist and clutching her sides.

Before she could stomp off and follow Otabin. Luz stood back up, wiping at the tears that had gathered in the corners of her eyes, and took a step forward. She cupped Amity's cheeks in her hands, still smiling brightly as she leaned forward, still slow enough that the warrior could stop her if she wished, she didn’t and planted a slow, lingering kiss on her lips, Amity let her eyes flutter closed.

When Luz pulled back, she opened her eyes to find that smile had been tempered to something softer, admiring.

"I appreciate that Amity, but I've managed to go this long without ever meeting my end that way, ya know?" she asked and Amity tried to turn away, embarrassed, but Luz's hands on her cheeks stopped her. "I'll be okay," she promised, running her thumbs across the sharp lines of Amity's cheeks.

"I'd still like to clear it from around the village at least…," she insisted with a huff.

"As you wish, my light." Luz smiled, watching Amity's lightening cheeks darken again. They always did when she called her that, it made her grin to be able to elicit such a response.  
"Luz…?" Amity mumbled and Luz cocked her head, silently encouraging her to go on. "Why… why do you call me that?" It was in this quiet, soft moment that she finally could ask the question that had been plaguing her for two months.

Luz continued to smile.

"You're my champion, a harbinger of light and joy, but in a long life in the dark, you're the light I didn't even know I needed…," she said, leaning her forehead against Amity's, keeping the now flustered jarl from turning away.

Amity felt tears prickle at the corner of her eyes.

"Luz…," she started, but before she could say anything else, the pounding of feet on the ground made them both look, and sure enough, Otabin had returned and clutched between his jaws was a bushel of green leaves with white berries.

He'd found mistletoe.

He planted himself at her feet and Amity was quick to kneel down and praise him, taking the plants. His tail thumped happily as she scratched his ears.

“He’s getting good at that…” Luz smiled.

“Yes he is…,” Amity cooed, making the god chuckle.

It was then that Luz noticed something out of the corner of her eye and turned to look but saw nothing, before she could turn back, something else caught her eye and then she realized what she was seeing. 

Snowflakes.

The dark, heavy clouds above them had started to release little white flakes of snow. 

“It’s snowing…,” Luz mumbled, making the jarl look up.

“The last of the season no doubt…,” Amity said, standing again.

“Should we head back to your spot by the wall?” Luz asked, turning back to her and Amity snorted.

“For a few flakes of snow? No, It’ll be fine.” 

Luz nodded

It was in fact, not a few flakes, and not fine.

As the hours passed the snowfall grew heavier and heavier, piling up in mounds on the ground as the temperature dropped around them. Amity pulled her cloak tighter around her as the harsh gusts of wind bit into her skin. The snow was now piled up around her shins and Otabin stood close, but she could barely feel the heat from his body with the cold.

She looked up at the sky, as snow continued to fall and fat flakes, covering everything.

She looked back down when she felt a weight on her shoulders. Luz was laying her own fur cloak across Amity's shoulders, atop her own, hoping to keep the jarl warm. 

"You can't weather the storm any longer…" she frowned down at her, clearly worried by her wind-burned face and blueing lips.

"And the storm is too heavy to even try and make it back to the village now…” Amity scowled, trying not to shiver against the icy chill that has numbed her face and hands.

Luz wrapped her arms around her and her warmth was appreciated, but it's not going to keep the storm at bay. 

“I guess I will be sleeping in that hole…,” she mumbled as they moved back to their temporary camp. 

Once Amity and Otabin had crawled inside it became apparent that there was no room for the God of light.

"Luz…," Amity started but Luz just held up a hand.

"I can't feel the cold anyway, remember? I'm not bothered out here, and I can sit here and keep the snow from blowing in here." She smiled. "Otabin can keep you warm."

She wanted to protest but she knew she was right, the cold didn't bother Luz, but it did bother her, and there simply wasn’t enough space in this hole for the three of them, even if she really wanted Luz to hold her; it was getting dark now on top of that.

“Alright,” she reluctantly agreed.

She managed to turn around so she could at least face Luz, who had situated herself smack dab in the middle of the opening in order to keep out the majority of the snow.

"Not quite how I expected this trip to go…," Amity grumbled, laying her cheek against Otabin's fur.

"The weather is like that sometimes…" Luz shrugged. Amity cocked a brow at her, but she looks more amused than anything.

"Your sister can literally change the weather at whim…" she smirked.

"Okay, for most of us the weather is like that. Even the other gods. Just not Boscha…" she threw up a hand, making the warrior chuckled as she looked up at her. Despite her rather lean frame, Luz is doing a decent job keeping out the snow and the wind.

"You know…," Luz started suddenly, making Amity look up at her again. "Before today, you never mentioned a mentor… did they teach you to fight, what were they like?" she asked, smiling brightly as she looked down at Amity, whose eyes flickered elsewhere, lips pulling downward in a frown and burrowing herself further into Otabin.

“I don’t wanna talk about it right now, Luz,” she mumbled and the god frowned.

“Are you sur-”

“Yes!” Amity snapped, turning away from her and snuggling into Otabin. Luz hunched, frowning. It didn’t seem like Amity was going to say anything else and Luz sighed, turning around to watch the snowfall sullenly. 

One step forward, two steps back it seemed.

The storm continued to rage and Amity clutched Otabins fur in her fingers as she listened to Luz sigh quietly to herself. She hadn’t meant to snap at Luz like that. She just really didn’t want to talk about that right now, not here.

She sighed and curled up closer to Otabin and tried to sleep. Despite the biting cold in the air, she did eventually drift off. 

_The sounds of battle continued to roar all around her, pounding in her ears along with the wild thumping of her heart. The wailing of the dying calling out for the gods rang out in the air, desperate moaning and pleading from those bleeding out in the grass at her feet._

_Amity panted as she ran across the field, ax in hand, scanning for a distinct head of hair or bright cloak._

_She saw the glint of the sword just in time to duck and swing her own ax, sinking the blade into an enemy's back. He let out a loud choking sound and Amity wrenched the ax free, blood splattered across the sleeves of her tunic and the ground as another lifeless body fell to the cold dirt. She turned and continued to run, the fierce fighting continued all around her._

_Some wore the magenta on Boneshaven and others dressed in dark burgundy._

_It was bitterly cold and her breath came out in thick clouds and every inhale burned her lungs as she ran._

_"Where are you?" she mumbled to herself, growing more desperate as those still fighting began to wane. The magenta of Boneshaven standing out brightly as less and less of those dressed in burgundy remained standing, but she didn't see the one person she was looking for among the victorious._

_Her eyes continued to scan, rapidly darting across the field when she saw it. A flash of a familiar white cloak on the ground._

_Amity darted forward and slid onto her knees in the dirt, dropping her ax at her side and holding her hands up in the air, shaking, unsure what to do. Blood was splattered everywhere, a bright stain of crimson on stark white._

_The feathered shaft of an arrow is sticking out of a barely rising chest and blood is dripping from between trembling lips._

_"No, no, no…," Amity repeated, hand hovering above the arrow. Should she pull it out?_

_A shaky blood-covered hand reached up to grab her wrist weakly and Amity jumped._

_“It’s going to be okay…,” the raspy voice said and a gruesome, bloody smile was directed at her._

_Amity’s chest constricted painfully and tears prickled at the corners of her eyes._

_“No, it’s not okay!” she yelled and the grip on her wrist tightened incrementally, causing her to go silent as a tired head shook back and forth._

_“You will be okay…,” is the correction of a bloody gurgle in response._

_“But you…,” tears streaked down her cheeks and her vision turned blurry with tears._

_“Shhh” is the quiet, shuddering reassurance. Droplets of blood sputter from lips with the exhale of air and blue-green eyes droop closed, the light behind them dimming. “You will be okay,… protect… them."_

_The grip on her wrist went lip and the hand dropped into the snow._

_Amity choked on the sob and name that welled up in her throat._

Amity gasped as her eyes popped open, jerking her head up; Otabin jerked as she did. She could feel the warm tears sliding down her cheeks and her heart was beating rapidly in her throat. Her tears were the only warm things about her though. She's cold, cold as ice, but she doesn't think twice about it as she sat up. Otabin whined, sensing her distress, licking at her tears and she gave him a pat before scrambling to her knees.

She doesn't see Luz, only a mountain of snow blocking the small entrance to the cavern.

"Luz?….Luz?!" Her voice cracked as she choked on the sob that had followed her from her dream and the pile of snow at the entrance shifted and Luz's head burst from the white powder.

"What, what's wrong?!" She crawled partway inside, snow falling off her head and shoulders.  
Amity crawled forward to throw her arms around Luz, who wrapped her arms around her as Amity buried her face into her chest and wept.

"Hey, hey, what's wrong?" she asked quietly, stoking green-tinted hair. 

Amity just shook her head and continued to cry. Luz held her close and frowned.

Normally, she could feel a comforting heat from Amity, a result of their connection, but all she could feel was cold right now. Amity was like ice to the touch and on top of her sudden tears, it made worry gnaw at the pit of Luz's stomach, especially as she shook in her arms, from tears or cold she wasn't sure. 

It was a while before the warrior's tears finally dried and she simply was clinging to Luz tightly.

"What’s wrong, my light?” she asked quietly. 

“I… I had a bad dream…,” she mumbled and felt like a child, but Luz only held her all the tighter to her, she was damp from the snow but there's a warmth radiating from her that draws Amity in despite the wetness of her clothes... 

“It was just a dream…,” Luz mumbled in her ear and Amity sniffled in response, shaking her head.

“No… a memory… of when my mentor died…,” she said under her breath and Luz blinked at that. “I haven’t been back here since… and it was winter then too,” She burrowed herself further into Luz and shivered violently, it was only getting colder and colder. 

“Are you okay? Luz pulled back enough to look down at her and Amity shook her head.

“I’m going to freeze to death if I stay out here much longer… I wasn’t prepared for such a storm…” She can still hear the howling wind outside.

Luz bit her lip at that. The sun had risen, but the storm showed no signs of stopping, in fact, it only seemed to be growing stronger. She had to do something.

“Stay here,” Luz told her and extracted herself from Amity’s tight grip.

"Where are you going?" Amity blinked her teary eyes at her as she backed out of the cavern...

“Outside, just stay here.” Luz dug her way out of the snow that had packed the entrance to the small cavern.

It's a blizzard outside, she can barely see five feet in front of her through the blowing snow and she's not even sure what she's going to try will work, she's never even attempted it before, but she has too, for Amity.

She turned and slowly climbed her way up the rock face that made up the wall that surrounded this mountain valley. She slipped a few times, but neither the cold nor the rock could hurt her so she only dug in harder until she reached the top and climbed to her feet atop it.  
Her cloak whipped in the wind as she turned her face skyward. She could feel the sun beyond the thick dark clouds and took a deep breath and focussed on the light she could feel beyond them. 

She could feel her eyes glowing, even closed as she focused her power on intensifying the light, and thus, the heat on the other side of the clouds.

It's a strange feeling, flexing her powers this way, she'd never done it before. It feels like pushing against a boulder rolling downhill, it's moving slowly, but surely. She clenched her fists tightly and shoved at the mental block; pushing and pushing. She doesn’t even notice the slowing of the wind around her, till suddenly, the boulder gave way, and then, the howling of the wind stopped entirely. 

She opened her eyes to find warm sunlight now streaming from a clear sky and she grinned brightly to herself as the warm rays of light hit her skin.  
She jumped back down just as Amity climbed out of the hole she had dug in the cavern's snowy blockage, followed closely by Otabin, who gave himself a mighty shake, bits of snow flying off him.

She stared up at the now clear sky in silent wonder before looking back at Luz who was grinning to herself proudly.

"How did you do that?" she asked breathlessly.

"I just concentrated my powers on the rays of sunlight I could feel beyond the clouds and made them stronger, which generated more heat and you know… cleared the storm…" she shrugged. "I can't bring you back a second time, so I really didn't want you to freeze to death…," Luz chuckled, scratching the back of her head sheepishly.

Amity doesn't know what to say.

"Better though, right?" Luz asked, and after a second of staring at her deific love in astounded silence, she could only smile at Luz.

"Yes… it's better." She nodded, wrapping her arms around Luz and squeezing her tightly. The god of light never failed to amaze her.

They decided to head back early, and it's halfway through the long trek back, hand in hand, does Amity finally speak.

"Luz?" she asked, garnering the god of lights attention. "Can I… tell you about my mentor?" 

Luz looked surprised by that.

"Only if you want to, if you don't want to talk about it I don't need to know…," she trailed off and Amity squeezed her hand.

"I want to tell you…,"

"Okay."

_“Stay here, I’ll go get the jarl and let her know you’re awake," the young herbalist who had introduced herself as Willow said before rushing out of the hut._

_Amity looked around._

_She hadn’t spoken a word to anyone since waking, not Willow, nor even to herself. Her hands hurt something fierce and she could see the bandages wrapped around every finger, stained with dried blood from having clawed her way through the rocks. She felt so tired still, she could feel the heaviness in her eyes as she looked around the other young woman’s home. There was a litany of plants, dried and living in little containers, some even hanging from the ceiling. The medicinal smell of herbs filled the room. She wrinkled her nose at the potent odor hanging in the air like a shroud._

_It wasn't but a moment later that the door opened and Willow stepped back in followed by another, older woman, dressed in a violet tunic and a white-furred cloak, a large sword hanging at her side._

_What really caught Amity's attention though was her hair. It was long and tied behind her, but what really threw her was the color._

_It was pale green._

_"Would you mind waiting outside, Willow?" the woman asked and the other young woman nodded before stepping out, closing the door behind her._

_The older woman walked over and sat herself gently on the stool at Amity's bedside. She smiled at the younger woman gently._

_"How are you feeling?" she asked and Amity flinched but after a few seconds, shrugged. Her throat felt raw and scratchy, so she didn't speak._

_The green-haired woman nodded understandingly._

_“At least you're alive, you were quite injured when we found you out in the woods. Where did you come from?” she asked, and her voice was soft and gentle, but Amity still flinched away, though she tried to suppress it and turned to look at the wall._

_The woman frowned, seeming to think about what to say._

_"What's your name?" she asked._

_Amity ran a dry tongue over even drier and cracked lips. She was thirsty._

_"Amity…," she finally said after a long moment._

_"Would you like something to eat, Amity? You look hungry," she asked the question with such a tender and low tone that it made something inside the girl seize up. Something sharp and painful stabbed at her chest, something she doesn't know how to name at the moment, but later will understand crystal clarity as compassion; something she has not yet had a chance to learn._

_As soon as the question was asked she realized how ravenous she was and gave a timid nod. The green-haired woman only smiled at her and stood from the stool._

_"Let me get you something. We can talk later, if and when you're already," she promised before turning to leave._

_"W-wait…," Amity rasped, unused to speaking again, her voice still scratchy and raw from the screaming and crying she had done inside the cavern. "What's… your name?" she asked and the woman smiled at her_

_"You may call me Azura, I’m the jarl here."_

"She and Willow helped heal me after that, she took me under her wing. My parents had already trained me how to fight, but Azura taught me so much more, made me her apprentice, and took care of me," Amity told Luz as they walked through the ever dimming forest as twilight settled down around them.

"What happened to her?" Luz asked quietly.

"She died, fighting off Invaders on the southern shore… and after, I became the jarl of Boneshaven…," she mumbled.

"And you've been protecting the village ever since?" 

Amity nodded, turning her head away.

“It’s the only real home I’ve ever known, and she asked me to protect it.” 

Deep inside, something still ate at her, for not being at Azura’s side when that arrow had been loosed; still blamed herself in ways.

"Hmm, I'm always amazed by how brave you are, Amity," Luz said, staring straight ahead at the path in front of them, but that made Amity look up at her with wide eyes, but she doesn't know what else she can possibly say to that. So she just squeezed her hand.

It was near completely dark when they arrived back at the village, guided by one of Luz’s orbs of light. Amity was exhausted after finally talking about Azura's death with someone. The old jarl had been gone a while now, but Amity had never been able to find her closure. She feels… lighter now, but still raw inside from having her emotions prodded. 

It had been over a month since the hunting accident with Boscha and Willow, and if ever she could stand to be held tightly, it's tonight.

She tugged gently on the light god's arm, making her look at her questioningly.

"Please… stay with me tonight, Luz? I… don't want to be alone." Her voice is small and quiet.

Luz could never refuse such a request. Especially looking at the tired and sullen look in Amity’s eyes.

The rest of the village was quiet and they managed to make it up the hill unseen.

When they enter Amity's home, Otabin made a beeline straight for the pile of hay that was his bed and Luz lifted a hand, and the room quickly filled with softly glowing orbs of light to chase away the darkness before she climbed into bed, pulling off her cloak and boots while Amity hung up her ax and bag.

Luz sank into the bed and tried not to outwardly sigh in relief at the familiar comfort she’d been missing, especially as Amity quickly crawled in beside her, snuggling into her side, an arm thrown over her waist. Amity hummed contentedly as Luz curled up around her and pressed a kiss to her forehead.

“Rest…,” she mumbled softly, running her fingers through her hair gently with one hand and the other wrapped protectively around her back, holding her to her chest.

It didn’t take long for the exhausted jarl to drift off, and Luz happily watched her through the night.

Unaware of the twin pairs of blue and green eyes watching through the window.


	14. Chapter 14

The sun is bright and shining over the golden halls of Valhalla, as it is most days; especially when Hooty and Gus are not making nuisances of themselves, or just not home. Things are quiet and calm around the large cavernous corridors, and within the main hall, the way it only is in the middle of the day, when the drinking and wild merrymaking from the previous night had lulled most of the hall's denizens to sleep.

It was an ordinary afternoon in the halls of Valhalla for Boscha, as normal as it ever got at any rate as she shoved a few drunken warriors from the tabletop so she could sit in her favorite spot, just beside one of the tall windows where golden sunlight was streaming in. She plopped down with a tall mug of mead and glanced around. 

Warriors were passed out drunk in the middle of the floors and tables, sleeping or just unconscious, not that there was much difference if you asked the god of storms, they weren’t awake. 

She was quite happy with herself today. 

Willow was pleased by her latest gift of a barrel of Asgardian mead and her sister was back on seemingly, mostly good terms with her own love. All was right with the divine sisters at the moment. She took a long drink from her mug and sighed to herself, closing her eyes, content, and enjoying the warm sun that was warming her skin.

It was pleasant against her skin, till it was burning. 

Her eyes popped open and she glanced out the window, squinting into the suddenly blinding sunlight, and it was getting hotter by the second. She wasn't the only one to notice. Several people in the hall all turned to look at the suddenly blinding sunlight streaming through the tall windows and filling the hall with searing white light.

“What the fuck…?” She shaded her eyes and within a minute the heat and light had dimmed again, returning to normal. She blinked away the spots in her vision and frowned, eyes narrowed. 

That was not normal. 

She hummed to herself, only one person she knew could have possibly increased the light of the sun that way.

“What are you doing, Luz?” She mumbled to herself before taking another drink. She wasn’t worried, nothing could hurt Luz, but it did beg the question of just what exactly her younger sister was doing.

Something to look into later, for now, she was just going to sit here and drink.

And she did, for at least an hour before her peace was once again interrupted, but this time by her brothers, as two of them came barreling into the great hall. 

Gus and King looked around before their eyes fell on her and then they were running toward her.

"Boscha!" Gus panted, hands on his knees.

"What is it?" She cocked a brow.

"Luz… she finally heard about Luz missing most of the last summer… and came to ask King and me about it," he huffed.

"Who, who heard about her missing last summer?" Boscha cocked her head as she lifted her mug.

"Mother," King said and Boscha’s mug fell back to the table, spilling out across the wood just as another figure appeared at the entrance of the hall.

Short, especially compared to the five divine siblings, except Gus and King. Her skin and eyes the same warm, inviting shades as Luz's.

Boscha swallowed thickly.

"Shit," she hissed under her breath as the shorter god glanced around the hall looking for them, for her, Boscha guessed.

"Quick, go down to Midgard and warn, Luz!" She turned to Gus who nodded and quickly ran out a side hall as their mother spotted her and the god of darkness and began making her way over.

"What are you going to tell her, you know she can tell when you're lying," King growled under his breath, hackles raised.

"As little as I possibly can while still telling the truth…," she hissed back.

"Boscha," the stern voice called her eldest daughter, causing both her and King to look over.

"Mother, I'm surprised to see you here… can I get you some mead?" she asked. King's rust-colored eyes glanced back and forth between the two.

"No, I want to ask you about your sister." Camila frowned, planting a hand on her hip as she looked at her second oldest.

"Oh, what has she done now?" Boscha tried to play it off cool, and technically that wasn't a lie she did not yet know what her mother was referring to specifically, but the elder god had the uncanny ability of knowing when any of her five children were lying through their teeth.

“Earlier today she burned away a blizzard in Midgard using her power to increase the light from the sun, and I was finally told by one of my champions that she missed half of the last summer, and no one could find her. What has she been doing?” 

Boscha swallowed, thinking quickly. 

“I don’t know about the blizzard, but maybe she just wasn’t feeling well last summer?” she shrugged and King’s head whipped to look at her, rust, red eyes wide and she already knew she messed up.

“Your sister is invulnerable, how could she not feel well?” brown eyes narrowed. 

“You never know…,” Boscha mumbled and Camila’s eyes turned to King, who hunkered under the gaze.

“Do you know what’s going on with your sister?” she asked point-blank and King knew that there was nowhere to go.

“No…,” he tried anyway and their mother’s eyes narrowed further. He’d gotten them caught.

She turned halfway toward the entrance to the hall and took a breath.

“Hooty!” 

The two siblings flinched and cursed to themselves. Of course, she would call for their older brother. He’d taken too many hits to the head to even entertain the idea of lying, or any other ideas outside fighting for that matter.

It took only a few minutes before the god of war appeared in the hall, two axes hung from the leather belt wrapped around his waist and the signature, torn brown cloak hung from around his neck.

He quickly walked over to them, his hulking seven-foot frame towering over everyone else. Warriors jumped to get out of his way.

“Hi, mother!” He smiled at her.

“Dearest, where is your sister?” she asked and the god of war turned to look at Boscha, frowning. “Luz, Hooty. Where is Luz?” Camila sighed silently under her breath.

“Oh, hm, probably Boneshaven, haha.” He smiled.

“Boneshaven?” she repeated, frowning and her eldest nodded. 

“The mortal village where her champion lives. She’s strong, ha. We fought!” he grinned and looked like he was pumping himself up at the very thought of having another go at the warrior.

“Her champion?” Camila’s eyes widened at that. “When did Luz choose a champion?” She looked at her youngest son and eldest daughter who looked like they didn't know what to say. Her eyes narrowed and she turned back to Hooty. He looked thoughtful, cocking his head.

“A year ago?” he finally said and nodded to himself. “A year ago, she gave her her medallion. Ha.” 

“What!?” Camila’s face is open shock at this point.

 _‘Shut up, Hooty!’_ Boscha and King thought venomously, but the god of war only nodded.

“Then she gave it back…” Hooty frowned, looking thoughtfully sad as he recounted the events of the last year with his youngest sister. “Luz was upset, then we couldn’t find her and summer stopped! Ha ha. Boscha said we shouldn’t tell you,” he said helpfully and Camila whipped around to glare at her eldest daughter.

“You’re dead…,” King whispered just as helpfully.

“King said she’d show up eventually and not to worry, Ha ha!”

“I’m dead,” he whispered to himself. 

“I’m going down there!” she declared, turning and quickly strutting from the hall.

“Mother!” Boscha jumped up and trailed behind the woman. 

"Not one of you thought it would be important to mention to your father or me that your baby sister fell in love with a mortal that then broke her heart and nearly caused Ragnarok? She's a baby!" The woman growled as she stomped down The long golden halls, the god of storms trailing behind her. Lesser deities and warriors were quick to jump out of the way.

Luz definitely took after their mother, having received her usually calm and caring disposition, as well as her skin and eyes, but she did not inherit the temper that could out flare Boscha's when it came to any of her children, especially Luz, the baby.

"We didn't want you two to worry, Luz was taking care of it, she isn't a baby, she's thousands of years old!" Boscha threw up her arms as she followed her mother.

"She's my baby, and some cavalier mortal broke my baby's heart! Something is going on with her right now, she's never used her powers that way before, probably the mortal…," the god raged and Boscha can already tell that nothing she says was going to stop her mother.

"Mother…" 

"I'll deal with the rest of you when I get back!" With that, the god rounded the corner and was gone.

Boscha sighed tiredly to herself.

Hopefully, Gus managed to make it in time to warn their youngest sibling of the impending arrival to Midgard.

~ ~  
Luz had not been this happy in months.

How could she not be, laying here curled around the one person she loved more than any other? 

Amity was still asleep, curled up against Luz, her warm breath fanning over the god's neck with every slow, even, rise and fall of her chest, sending the occasional chill through Luz. Otabin was also still asleep, snoring quietly from his bed in the corner.

Luz gently turned over to better hold her and though she didn’t mean to, Amity began to stir, eyes slowly blinking open.

“Hey,” Luz hummed and Amity made a noise in her throat as she snuggled closer, burying her face in Luz’s neck and squeezing in closer. Luz felt an indescribable warmth fill her chest, especially as lips pressed lazily against her neck. 

She’d missed this so much. Being with Amity in general, but especially spending the night with her, just getting to hold her close. She could think of nothing else that has ever made her this happy in her very long-lived life. She could happily stay here till Ragnarok, but after a while, Amity started to move and stretch and Luz knew she'd want to get up soon, and she did. 

She stretched and yawned, finally peeling her eyes open, though she hadn’t yet pulled her face out of Luz’s neck; she’s warm. Luz was running her fingers through her hair and oh, how she missed this. She dug her fingers into the fabric of Luz’s tunic and tugged her closer if it was possible, and pressed several long, slow kisses across her neck. After the rawness of yesterday and the balm that was her love’s warmth and affection, Amity is feeling particularly affectionate this morning and Luz doesn't seem to mind at all and hums in response, grinning to herself, but says nothing lest she break whatever spell this is.

“We have to get up,” she finally said and Luz frowned, squeezing her closer. 

“Noooo,” Luz said, making Amity giggle, quietly to herself, but sat up anyway.

“Come on… I know you don’t have to eat, but come have breakfast with me anyway,” she said, planting a final kiss on Luz’s cheek.

“Okay,” she grumbled and sat up, scratching her head, but didn't get out of bed.

She watched the jarl pad around her home, kindling the fire in the pit, and made something for the two of them to eat. Simple dried meats and pickled vegetables, but it's probably one of the best things Luz had ever eaten, though that has little to do with the food and more to do with the company as Amity sat beside her on the bed.

When their food was gone, Amity tossed meat to the wolf, who lazily snapped it in his jaws from his place lying in the bed of hay. Once everyone was fed Amity stood and started pulling on her boots

Otabin stood as well and stretched, giving himself a mighty shake before heading to the door.

"Will you let him out?” Amity asked, tying her bracers in place.

“Sure,” Luz stood and opened the door, the wolf shot outside and ran down the hill without so much as a backward glance. 

Luz didn’t need to drink, but she had a hankering for a drink suddenly and walked over to the large barrel sitting near the door and popped open the top only to find the barrel empty and frowned.

“Why is the mead always gone?” she mumbled to herself.

“Willow must have been by while we were gone…” She turned around and grinned at Amity, who was rolling her eyes. 

“Probably…,” she snorted. 

“Oh, what pretty cats…” 

Luz turned around fully to look at Amity, who was kneeling down to pet a pair of large, Norwegian cats. One black with a patch of white on its neck and one white with a patch of black on its neck.

Both sporting a pair of dual blue and green eyes. The black one let Amity pet her while the white one looked at Luz knowingly. 

“Oh, those look just like…!” Luz choked on her breath, freezing. "Oh no…"

Amity looked up and saw Luz had gone pale, she might even say deathly, where the god able to die of anything other than mistletoe.

"What's the matter?"

"The cats…," Luz mumbled more to herself than anything. " She's coming…"

"Huh?" Amity blinked and then the god of light is a flurry of energy.

"You have to hide, now!" Luz looked around desperately and spotted the barrel. She grabbed the jarl by the waist and picked her up effortlessly.

Amity squealed as Luz raised her off the ground and quickly walked her over to the barrel.

"What are you doing, put me down, Luz!" She wiggled in the god's strong, but gentle grip.

"You have to hide, right now!" Luz insisted.

"Why?!" Amity demanded.

"No time to explain if the cats are here! Do you trust me?" she asked, and Amity stopped her struggling to look down at the god of light still holding her aloft over the opening of the barrel, eyes wide.

Despite her panic, Luz also realized within a second of asking it, just how much weight that question truly carried considering the state of their relationship over the last, almost year, they'd been working to mend it, and honestly, Luz thought it was stronger now than it was before.

She needs to know, now more than ever, if Amity feels that way too, but right now, time is short.

The cats turned and ran down the hill and panic once again grabbed her by the throat.

"Tell me later!" Luz yelped as Amity’s mouth had opened to answer and set her inside and laid the lid on top, concealing the jarl.

"Luz!" 

The god of light jumped, whirling around to face the voice and sure enough, walking up the hill was her mother. Her dark blue and gold tunic is almost blinding in the bright morning sunlight.

"Mami!" Her childhood nickname for her mother comes spilling out. "What are you doing here?" Is the first thing she can't help but ask. Especially with how annoyed her mother looks right now.

"I think I could ask you the same question, why are you in this mortal village?" The woman asked, planting a fist on her hip and she looked at her daughter sternly. The two cats walked around her feet, rubbing against her legs. She doesn't wait for an answer. “I’ve been hearing things, Luz.”

"Ooooh, wh-what kind of things?” she asked, starting to sweat.

“That you disappeared and none of your siblings could find you for half of the last summer season…

“Oh.. well…”

“That you subverted the death of a mortal and made her your champion...”

“That was…”

“That you also fell in love with that mortal and she broke your heart?” Her mother finished, giving her a hard look and Luz could only swallow. “Then just yesterday all of Asgard saw and felt you use your powers to burn away that blizzard, did that have something to do with the mortal too?” she asked. 

"Well…," Luz started only for what she was about to say to be cut off once more by her mother who was pressing a finger to her temple and sighing.

"Luz… you always throw yourself into things so whole-heartedly and we all love you dearly for it, but now you've gone and gotten yourself hurt and neglected your duties." 

"I didn't mean to be gone so long, I…"

"There are mortals who have gone hungry because you shortened the growing season." She frowned and Luz flinched, eyes turning to the ground.

"I know…, I didn't mean to."

From inside the barrel, Amity has been listening to this conversation between mother and daughter, and her love being run over by her mother the way she was made something familiar and uncomfortable twist inside the warrior's gut. Of another mother that never wanted to hear what their daughter had to say.

Luz was so kind and sweet, to hear her be scolded so does nothing to endear the other god to her. She also feels partially responsible for sending the god of light into her depressive state for all the time she was hiding in the lake of light, though she knows Luz would disagree since it was her lies that started everything. That doesn't change how Amity felt about it all.

Camila started again and the tone was clear exasperation.

"Dearest, you can’t just…

Amity won't hear another word.

Before she could say anything else the lid of the barrel was chucked over the side and Amity popped up and met the other woman’s eyes. Luz whipped around to look at her like she'd lost her mind.

Her first thought is that this is definitely Luz's mother. They look so similar, save for the fact that Luz is tall and lean while the woman in front of her is much shorter, and while fat is most definitely not what she is, she would say she isn't as thin as Luz.

She also looked surprised.

"Luz does her best and one would think as her mother you might try to be more understanding!" The jarl bit out and Luz’s jaw fell open in absolute shock as Amity yelled at her mother.

Her mother the queen of the gods.

Camila seemed just as surprised at first, a surprise that did not last long and she scowled.

"A mortal dares to speak to me that way!?" Her eyes glowed and the two cats at her feet glowed as well, growing larger and larger until two large, feline beasts with wickedly curved teeth and claws are standing beside her, snarling and hissing.

One lunged forward with a roar and Amity reached for her ax, but before the beast could even cross the short distance to her, Luz had jumped between them and grabbed it, holding the stunned creature under the arms as though it were still a small cat.

"No, Bygul!" The god of light was glaring at the cat, who made a whimpering sound before Luz set it down and it quickly retreated to her mother's side with its twin, Trjegul. Amity blinked at the back of the god's head.

Her mother was looking at her, surprised.

"Mami, this is Jarl Amity of Boneshaven… my champion…," Luz said, holding a hand out to Amity.

"This is the mortal?!" Her mother demanded. Her mother took a step forward and Luz held up a hand.

"Mami, don't."

“How can you say that after she hurt you…” Camila’s frown deepened if possible. 

“No, she didn’t hurt me, I…”

"Oh, you didn’t give her your medallion, and she didn't return it?" Camila cocked a brow. 

Luz winced at that, of course, she knew about that. It still stung some, but that was her fault.

“Yes…," she reluctantly said. “But I…”

"Then why in the realms would you want this one?" Camila sighed, exasperated, and rubbing her temple as she ignored Luz’s attempt at an explanation. “There are plenty of other beings in the other eight realms that…”

“I don't want them!” Luz finally yelled, scowling and her mother blinked at her, surprised at the intense glowing coming from her youngest’s eyes. She’d never seen the most mild-mannered of her children behave this way. 

Luz took a deep breath, calming herself.

“I love Amity,” she said. “Yes, she gave the medallion back, but I lied to her, I didn’t tell her who I was until it was much too late to be doing so… She hurt me, but I deserved it! I hurt her first… and knowingly...” she finally admitted to herself and Amity. In the back of her mind, she’d known that Amity would most likely be hurt by her lie, but she’d never in her dreams imagined to the extent it had been.

Camila looked between her daughter and the mortal warrior peeking over her shoulder and frowned. 

“Explain this to me from the beginning," she demanded. She could have as much a temper as her husband, but she was at least willing to listen first before any smiting took place.

So Luz explained it.

By the end of the tale, Camila was pinching the bridge of her nose and trying to figure out where she went wrong with Luz, with all five of the unruly deities she called her children, but especially Luz at this moment. 

"Luz…," she sighed. "What am I to do with you?" She asked tiredly. 

"I know I made mistakes, before, during, and after… but I'm working to fix them all," Luz told the other deity. "But nothing will keep me from Amity as long as she will have me…," Luz said defiantly. 

Camila looked at her daughter, and then the mortal.

Now that she wasn't half as angry, when she looked at the two she could feel it, the ebb and flow of a string of fate, unmistakeable. Luz was right, the crystals in her place of birth reacting to the mortal were a sign. This one was connected to Luz.

That was something even Camila couldn't fight, and after hearing the story, it's Luz who was in the wrong, that didn't change the fact that the elder god was still not happy about Luz being hurt, but she tried hard not to fault the mortal, especially as she could tell her youngest was prepared to fight tooth and nail on this. 

"Fine…," she finally said.

"Fine?" Luz repeated and the other god nodded.

"Stay with the mortal if you wish. You aren't a child, I won't tell you with whom you may or may not galavant around with, but know that I will be watching…," The last part was directed at Amity, who tried not to let her nerves show at that. The older woman turned to walk back down the hill, both of her once again, regular size cats, at her feet. "Walk with me a moment, Luz," she called and started down the hill without a second glance back.

Luz looked at Amity and grinned brightly before following her mother, leaving her alone for the moment.

Amity could tell the god of light was used to doing whatever her mother told her to do, she could just tell. Until she had threatened Amity.

Luz had stood between the two and defended everything the jarl had said or done while admitting her own mistakes and expressing her regret and desire to take responsibility for all of it, in the face of an angry god, in the face of her angry mother.

Amity bit her lip and felt her heart give a hard throb in her chest as it swelled with searing affection for the god of light.

_'Do you trust me?'_

Amity herself had wondered that ever since she found out the truth.

It was now that she knew the answer, without a doubt.

“Psss, hey!” A hissing voice called to Amity.

She blinked and turned toward the noise to find the god of mischief sticking his head out of a nearby shrub. 

“Where’s Luz? I have to warn her, our mother is coming,” he said, and Amity resisted the urge to roll her eyes.

“She already came,” Amity informed him and the god frowned.

“Oh… shoot.”

Near the gate, Luz followed behind her mother till she stopped and turned to her youngest.

“Are you certain that mortal is who you want?” Camila asked and Luz nodded.

“I’m certain, no one’s ever made me feel the way Amity does…” Luz smiled to herself and at seeing the lovestruck expression Camila could only sigh.

“I hope you know what you’re doing, dear.”

“I haven’t the slightest clue,” Luz admitted with a chuckle. “Amity and I are figuring it out together though.” 

~ ~

It took her a while to find the place, she was unconscious getting there after all, but she mostly remembered from the trip back, and eventually found the little home at the base of the mountain.

She and Otabin walked up to the door and before she could knock it flew open and standing in the doorway, was Gus.

"Amity!" The god of mischief grinned at her. "Come in, Eda and Lilith are expecting you," he said, standing to the side to allow her and her wolf companion to enter.

"They are?" She blinked at that.

"Ooh, he looks so happy and healthy." Gus grinned as he knelt down to inspect Otabin, running his hand through his fir and inspecting his ears.

"He's an excellent companion." Amity nodded. "Thank you."

Gus just chuckled nervously at that.

"Ahh, well, it was the least I could do after the incident with the berserker drought… and Luz yelled at me too," he pouted. Hooty never understood and King was fun to annoy, but he couldn’t stand to have both his sisters mad at him.

"Get in here already!" Eda's voice called. Amity and the god shared a look before she walked in.

The oracle sisters were sitting around the firepit when she walked in.

"The champion of light finally arrives!" Eda grinned at her.

"You knew I was coming?" She looked between the two as Gus walked past her to lean against one of the walls.

"I had a vision in my dreams last night," Lilith answered, looking up at her. "That a harbinger of light would come seeking assistance.” 

“Your the only champion of light that exists…,” Eda threw in.

"And that they would need my help," Gus added from his place.

Amity frowned at that but did't question it.

"So, how may we assist the champion of light?" Lilith asked.

"I want to do something for Luz… I'm ready to tell her that I've forgiven her. Completely. That I'm ready to move forward and leave the hurt from past mistakes behind."

Lilith nodded sagely, while Eda and Gus grinned.

"The kid will be overjoyed to hear that," Eda said. "So what were you thinking?"

"That's just it, I don't know. I want to take her somewhere or do something, just the two of us, where we won’t be disturbed or bothered.” 

“Offer yourself to her,” Eda suggested and Amity turned blood red.

“Edalyn!” Lilith scolded.

“What?” she laughed.

“Maybe another time…,” Amity mumbled.

“What about a sacrifice? Gods like sacrifices,” she quickly suggested and Lilith shot her another look.

“Yeah!” Gus jumped in before she could speak. “Give her the head of rival jarl!” He grinned wickedly and Eda cackled. 

“What? No!” Amity snapped. 

“What about Hringhorni?” Lilith’s voice finally cut through the madness.

“Oh, that’s a good idea!” Eda quickly agreed.

“What’s Hringhorni?” Amity asked.

“A boat Odin gave her as a gift,” Eda informed her and Lilith nodded.

“You could take her out to sea, no one would bother you there,” the eldest oracle went on.

“That sounds like a good idea… where’s the boat?” she asked, looking between the two of them.

“Uh…” Lilith looked at her sister, who shrugged. 

"We have no idea where it is…," Lilith admitted and Amity frowned.

"Oh, I do!" Gus spoke up, causing all eyes to turn to him. 

"You do?" Eda asked suspiciously.

"Yeah, Boscha and Hooty wanted to use it to invade an island on the outskirts of Asgard and she told them no. She had to hide it so they wouldn't take it, but she told me where it is. I can show you." The god offered. "It's in a cove to the east of here."

Amity looked between the three of them before turning back to Gus and nodding.

~  
"That... is not a boat," Amity said as she looked up at the massive longship. "That is a warship."

"Well, it's not a small boat, no," the god of mischief admitted with a laugh as they climbed aboard.

It was quite large, with a long curving prow carved in the shape of a dragon's head and the large white sails featured the sigil of light in striking violet.

"You need a minimum of two people to navigate this. How can I possibly get it to the southern shore by myself?" 

"Luckily for you, I'm here." He grinned and the bejeweled eyes of the carved snake at the top of his staff began to glow and several more copies of the god appeared on deck. "I still feel bad about what happened with your siblings so I'll get it to the shore and then you and Luz can take it from there. 

"Thank you…," she started but he just waved a hand. 

"Don't mention it."

~ 

“Can I look now?” Luz asked as Amity led her by the hand through the woods, carefully guiding her over any rocks or roots she might trip on, regardless if they would hurt her or not. 

“Not yet,” Amity rolled her eyes for the fourth time in nearly as many minutes, as soon as she’d said they were getting close, the god had begun asking constantly, vibrating with excited energy after Amity had told her she had a surprise for her. 

“But Amityyyyy,” she whined. 

“I’m going to take you back to the village if you don’t cut it out…,” the jarl mumbled, teasing; mostly.

“Fine…,” Luz pouted.

Within a few minutes, she could hear the sound of the waves hitting the shore and knew where they were, or at least she had a vague idea.

“Okay…” Before she can even finish speaking, Luz is already ripping off the blindfold and blinked against the harsh light.

It took her only a second to realize what she was looking at.

"Hringhorni!?" She blinked up in surprise at the ship. "What…. how did you?" Luz had several questions and just can't figure out which one she wanted to ask first.

"I thought we might go somewhere where there's no threat of any of our siblings, or other family members showing up… Lilith suggested the ship but they didn't know where it was…"

"Gus…," Luz said. He was the only one who knew where she'd hidden it from their other siblings. Amity nodded.

"He still felt bad about the berserker drought, so he helped get it here... so?" She looked at Luz.

"Let's go!" the god said before she took off running toward the shore with a grinning jarl hot on her heels.

It's a perfect day in mid-spring to be on the water. There was little wind and the water was smooth and calm.

The salty sea spray misted across her skin from on deck. It was still cool, but the late afternoon became warm quickly. 

Summer was around the corner and with it, she knew that Luz would have to go again, she had her own duties and responsibilities that she couldn’t ignore.

She looked up, shielding her eyes from the sun to look at Luz hanging from the mast with a bright smile.

She could worry about that later, she wasn’t going to let it suck the joy out of this moment.

After a few minutes, the god finally climbed back down, dropping the last few feet to the deck with a quiet thump.

"This is great." She beamed at Amity, joining her leaning against the side of the ship as it swayed gently in the water.

"It is," she agreed with a nod.

“I'm surprised, you hardly seem like the seafaring type,” Luz said.

“Neither do you,” Amity shot back and Luz laughed.

"It was something my dad used to take us all to do with him when he wasn't busy. I had a lot of fun doing it, so he gave me this boat." She held up a hand, gesturing to the massive and beautiful ship.

"Boat is not a strong enough word for this I think…" Amity smirked and Luz chuckled sheepishly.

“It was a gift from my dad,” she shrugged, as if that explained everything, and considering who her father was, it really did. "I'm curious though, what made you want to come out here?" Luz cocked her head. "Not that I'm complaining!" she quickly added, reaching down to take one of Amity's hands in hers.

“I did bring you out here for a reason," Amity started and Luz perked up. “I wanted to talk about us,” she said.

“Oh…” Luz stood up straighter and looked worried now. Amity smiled and turned to stand in front of her, taking up her other hand so she held both.

“Relax, nothing bad, very much the opposite,” she started and Luz seemed to relax but still looked curious.

"About everything that's been going on… with us… you've been so patient and understanding…,” Amity started and Luz snorted. 

“I haven't exactly been patient the whole time… and all of this was my fault to start with… you didn’t have to give me another chance at all… but you did… it’s only right that I give you all the time and space that you need.” 

Amity shook her head.

“I did have to give you another chance…,” Amity said and Luz’s eyes narrowed. “My life felt so much emptier without you in it. I had to let you back in… once you’d promised and proved to me that it wouldn’t happen again that is…”

“Never,” Luz mumbled, squeezing both of Amity’s hands in hers tightly. The jarl smiled at that.

“What I wanted to say is… nothing can ever be perfect, and I’ve learned that even the gods are fallible. We’re both going to make mistakes sometimes, be angry with each other… but I'm done being angry or upset about this," she finally said. 

"What does that mean?" Luz asked.

"It means I forgive you, completely. When your mother came you asked me if I trusted you, but I didn't get a chance to answer you then."

Luz just looked at her, silent, but hopeful.

"I do trust you, and I want to put everything else behind us and move on from it, if that's what you wa-" she isn't even finished before Luz wrenched her hands-free from hers to wrap around her tightly, lifting her off the deck and spinning them around.

Amity gave a little shriek and clung to the grinning god.

"Yes, yes please!" Luz said, hugging her tightly. 

Amity can help but laugh and pressed a kiss to Luz's cheek.

Their both grinning giddily at each other when Luz finally let her feet touch back down to the wood.

They were both quite pleased, and Luz couldn’t help but let her hand go to her chest, pressing over the golden medallion hanging from her neck beneath the tunic, out of sight.

"Would you…," she started but Amity pressed her hand over Luz's and the medallion.

"No…," she started and Luz frowned, but Amity just smiled at her and curled her fingers around Luz's warm ones.

"I love you, Luz and someday when you ask, I will accept it… but not now." 

The god just nodded in understanding. 

"Someday…," she agreed and used her hand wrapped in Amity's to pull her in closer and leaned down to kiss her. Amity was all too happy to return it.


	15. Chapter 15

It was two days before the summer solstice and Amity had been distracted.

The solstice was the longest day of the year, the pinnacle of summer, and the one day dedicated to the god of light and the summer sun, to Luz, and it was one of the biggest celebrations of the year in the village of Boneshaven, the center of light worship this side of the Southern Isles. 

She had spent the last week getting things prepared with Willow and the village elders and the stress had started to pile up on her shoulders. Being the largest village in the south and the center of worship for ‘Baldur’ all the smaller surrounding villages up and down the coast would be piling inside Boneshaven’s gates to drink and sing from the time the sun rose till it rose again the next morn. It was a lot of preplanning and work and Amity was exhausted.

On top of that, she hadn’t seen Luz in two weeks. 

Summer was at its peak and being the god of the summer sun, and especially after slacking off last summer, she’d been quite busy. Rolling into the village only for a day or two at a time before leaving again for at least a week. This was the longest she had been away yet and Amity keenly felt the absence on top of her responsibilities and duties.

She drug a hand down her face as she left the mead hall where she had finished yet another meeting with three other visiting jarls and Boneshaven’s elders. She sighed as she walked through the village toward Willow’s home on the edge of the village with Otabin trailing along behind her. 

She needed a drink, or four. 

The closer she came to Willow’s, the louder and louder the distant sounds of yelling grew.

"Get out!" 

"But Willow!" 

A door slammed and Amity rounded the bend to find the god of storms standing, slumped outside Willow's door and grumbling to herself as she turned and plopped herself on the porch in a heap.

"Trouble?" Amity cocked a brow as she approached, Otabin peeking around her.

Boscha looked up and scowled.

"I accidentally set some plants on fire with a stray bolt of lightning," she grumbled, crossing her arms. 

"Ahh…," Amity snorted and Boscha sent her a dark look as she knocked on the door, ignoring the redhead.

"Get your ass back to Asgard!" Is the annoyed call from the other side of the door. Boscha winced at that, looking more morose,

"It's me," Amity called and a few seconds later the door flung open. 

"Ah, Amity, come on in." She stepped aside to allow the warrior to enter, glancing at the hopeful looking god sitting on her porch before closing the door again. 

Boscha slumped, frowning to herself.

"What are you doing here? I thought you had some meetings to attend today?"

"Yes, and I did… I need a drink…," she grumbled, plopping herself down at Willow's table, Otabin laying down at her feet.

"Ah, say no more." The herbalist nodded and moved to the barrel sitting against the wall and Amity could tell from the gold metal that bound the barrel together that it was mead from Asgard; from Boscha no doubt.

She watched as Willow filled two mugs then set one in front of Amity and sat down across from the jarl with her own.

“Don’t you think you’re being a little harsh on Red out there?” Amity asked, taking a deep drink from her mug and nodding over her shoulder to where she knew Boscha was still sitting outside, pouting.

Willow snorted, taking a long, violent drink from her mug, making Amity smirk to herself behind the rim of her own drink.

“I've said it before and I'll say it again, no lightning in my house!” She turned to yell out one of the open windows.

“It was an accident!” was the yell that came back. Willow huffed, turning up her nose.

“Speaking of deity’s, where is yours?” she asked. “Still out doing her duties? I haven’t seen her around the village in a bit.

“Yes,” she sighed. “She’s been gone two weeks… I was hoping she’d be back for the solstice, but I don’t think she will,” she grumbled to herself, slumping in the chair. 

“You miss her…” Willow smiled to herself.

“Of course I miss her,” she snapped, but Willow just smiled knowingly at her. 

“Well, I’m sure when she gets back you two can keep each other... entertained. I can’t help but wonder, given how different they are, or if maybe it’s a god thing, but does she have endless energy as well?” Willow asked curiously. Amity’s brows furrowed as she lifted her mug to her lips. Luz did tend to be rather energetic even when she was meant to be still.

“She is often a handful, it’s all I can do somedays to keep her from climbing every tree she sees,” she snorted, taking a drink.

“I meant in bed,” is the nonchalant answer that made Amity spew mead across the table and her face turned red.

“What?!” she asked as Willow leaned back, barely missing being sprayed with mead. “We… we haven't…” she frowned, not able to look the herbalist in the eye.

“You haven’t?” now it was Willow’s turn to be surprised, eyes wide as she stared at the red-faced jarl. “You've known each other almost two years now, I would have thought…,” Willow trailed off.

“We… were talking about it… but then, I found out who she was and things have been…” she waved a hand and Willow nodded understandingly. 

“You started over…,” she said and Amity nodded.

“Do you want to?” Willow asked and if anything, Amity turned even redder, but she nodded, albeit, reluctantly.

"I just... don't know how to go about it…," she mumbled.

"Just do it?" Willow cocked a brow. "I don't understand the problem."

"I kind of want to... surprise her?” she admitted, face reddening further. “But I also want to make sure that that’s something she's still interested in… a lot has changed since we last talked about it, how can I do that and it still be a surprise?" She frowned, looking into her mug pensively. 

Willow hummed, thinking before she sighed to herself and turned to yell out one of her open windows.

"Boscha!" 

A few seconds later the god of storms stuck her head in the window.

"You called?" she asked hopefully.

"I need a favor from you," she said and Amity looked between the two of them curiously.

"Anything you ask of me, my Flower, consider it done." Boscha smiled at her in what Amity assumed she must have thought was charming, and maybe it would have been, had she not been in love with the woman's sister, and the god of storms not been sucking up to Willow.

"I need you to ask Luz if she still wants to have sex," is the deadpan request.

"What!?" Amity all but shrieked. 

The smile fell away completely and instead, a stupefied look had come over the god's face. Willow seemed to be able to know exactly what the god was thinking and rolled her eyes.

"With Amity, Boscha, and don't tell her we asked," she clarified.

"Ohhh, consider it done!" Boscha grinned wickedly at them before the god's head disappeared back out of the window.

"No, no, not done!" Amity ran around the table and flung the door open just in time to catch a glimpse of the redhead before a bolt of lightning struck the ground just outside the house and she was gone.

Amity groaned into her hands.

"This is the fastest, easiest, and most direct way to get this done." Willow patted her shoulder. "You'll thank me later." The herbalist grinned.

"Will I?" The jarl mumbled before following her friend back inside.

"Also you owe me, I just used a perfectly good favor."

~

Luz was taking a brief break in her father's hall before she got back to work, and by brief she meant she was just passing through, drinking from the mug only as long as it took her to speed walk through the massive hall.

The solstice was in two days and she had every intention of being in Boneshaven the day of in order to celebrate, though she was not even remotely interested in the celebrations that were for her, flattering as it was that she finally had her own day of celebration right along with the rest of her siblings, but no. What she was interested in was the fact that Amity was born on the day of the solstice. That, she was interested in celebrating and she had a great idea for a gift.

At least she thought she did.

She hoped Amity would like it anyway, it wasn’t something many people could claim to have at any rate. 

She had halfway downed her drink when a peal of thunder sounded through the halls and the next thing she knew her sister was standing in her path, grinning. Luz didn’t like anything about that grin her sister sported either. 

“Luz, I need to talk to you…,” Boscha started but the god of light only continued to walk down the hall right past her. 

"Only if you can walk and talk, I'm busy and only have until the rest of this is gone." She held up her mug as she walked away.

"I won't take up but a moment of your time, little sister." The god of storms grinned as she fell into step beside Luz, who side-eyed her carefully as they went, she knew her sister and that was not a look she liked.

"Well, what is it?" Luz asked before taking a long drink.

"Considering how improved your relationship has been, I was wondering if you were still interested in letting your champion mount you?"

Boscha couldn’t help but burst into laughter as mead came out of her sister's nose while she hacked and coughed, coming to a screeching halt in the middle of the corridor. 

"W-what?!" She stopped, sputtering on the fermented beverage that was now in her lungs.

Boscha was bent over at the waist cackling uncontrollably, tears in her eyes.

"That…. that's not something Amity is interested in!" Luz barked and quickly started to walk away, throwing down her mug where it splintered into a thousand pieces on the great stone floor.

Boscha was able to pull herself together just enough to chase after the youngest of the five divine siblings.

"Testy, testy," the storm god teased with a wide grin and could see the tops of her sister's ears turning pinker by the second. "Also, what makes you think your champion has no interest in such things, she certainly did before if I recall correctly." Boscha grinned wickedly down at her and Luz scowled, not stopping, nor slowing. 

"Well, that was before... everything!" Luz threw up her hands angrily as she stomped down the hall with her sister hot on her trail.

"Didn't she tell you that she forgave you completely? That she wanted to forget all about that and move on?" Boscha cocked a brow.

"Well… yeah, but she hasn't brought it up either, so I just assumed that wasn't on the table at the moment…," she mumbled, red-faced, seeming to lose some steam at her sister's point.

"So why don't you bring it up?" she cocked her head and Luz just shook hers.

"It doesn't feel right…," she admitted, frowning. "To make that suggestion after I'm the one who set us back all this time… caused all the hurt, even if she forgave me." She turned her head so Boscha could no longer see her face.

"But you are still interested?" The taller god wheedled and if possible Luz's face went even redder as she made a growling sound in the back of her throat.

"Yes, I'm still…' interested'," she grumbled as they reached the great wooden doors of the hall. "Why are you even asking!?" Luz looked at her, irritated, and becoming more so when her sister just smiled and shrugged. "Ugh! I don't have time for this if I'm going to be in Boneshaven for the solstice!" With that, Luz hurried down the steps, and in a bright flash of light, she was gone.

Boscha crossed her arms and chuckled to herself.

She'd been listening outside the window at Willow's, she had a pretty good idea of what her sister was in for.

Now, however, she had to report back to her own little mortal with her findings, perhaps then she would be allowed back into the house.

~ 

People had been celebrating non-stop all day, but the celebrations only hit their peak once the sun had begun to set.

Amity had spent the majority of the longest day of the year, carefully managing multiple villages' worth of people all crammed within the walls of her home, drinking and eating till they were fit to burst.

While everything was fairly smooth for the most part, there were still the occasional drunken brawls that needed breaking up and people who had passed out early that needed to be moved out of the main walkways to sleep off the day's celebrations.

She wasn't tired so much as exasperated by so many of the things she'd had to deal with today, which may or may not have included her own siblings as well as all the strangers.

It was days like this that took away all her wonder at why the god of mischief was so interested in the twins. They drew trouble and chaos to themselves like the sun and moon drew Sköll and Hati.

The sun was only halfway past the horizon and plenty of bright orange rays of light were still invigorating the people to drink and sing and act like fools.

Amity just shook her head at most of them, she had long since given up trying to control the majority of the mayhem.

She was also disappointed.

Boscha had let slip that the god of light was trying to finish up enough of her work to be in the village for the festivities, but didn't know if she would make it or not.

Considering the day was all but ended now, it would seem it had proven too busy for Luz.

While she was disappointed, she wasn’t going to hold it against her patron, given that it was the longest day of the summer, let alone the year. Luz had responsibilities, and after what had happened last summer, she needed to do them right. According to her, the last thing she needed was for her father to come around wondering what was going on. 

Amity would take her word for it after meeting her mother.

Besides, Luz couldn’t be here, but the sigil branded into her skin had been heating up off and on all day. So, wherever she was, Luz was thinking of her, and that went a long way to improving her dull mood, knowing she was at least in her love’s thoughts. 

She sighed and sat the mug of mead she had been nursing for the last two hours down and stood, Otabin climbing to his feet as well, he stretched languidly before following at a trot along beside her, the almost thigh-high wolf was her constant companion and helped fill the hole when Luz was away. 

The jarls from the other villages were also sitting around, drinking and watching over things, no one would notice if she went for a walk to help clear her head.

She happened to catch Willow’s eye as she walked by and raised a silent hand to the herbalist, who nodded from her seat beside the tall god of thunder.

“I guess Luz couldn’t make it after all.” The herbalist frowned and Boscha just hummed. She had been certain her sister would be here. While the day had been long and the last several days had been near scorching hot, it had only been pleasantly warm today, she had taken that to mean that Luz was coming. 

With her ax and companion at her side, Amity managed to sneak out of the village unnoticed. The two of them walked through the dimming forest in peace and quiet save the cicadas and occasional rustling of the underbrush as small animals moved about.

There was still plenty of light out, but even if it did begin to grow dark before she returned to the village she knew that the sigil on her ax would provide light, so she walked without fear through the trees, enjoying the warm, balmy feeling on her skin. It hadn't been overbearingly hot, nor the air heavy, it had simply been a beautiful day.

One she had desperately wanted to spend with Luz, but it was not to be it seemed.

Perhaps next year.

The sound of a large heavy stick snapping in the woods made her freeze, save the hand that shot to her ax handle.

Beside her, Otabin’s fur was standing on end, lips pulled back over sharp curved teeth and a deep menacing growl reverberated out of his throat.

She could see it. Something large, dark, and hulking, moving between the trees not too far ahead of her.

Her grip on the ax tightened, prepared until she saw it.

Glowing, rust-colored eyes, peered at her from the gloom of the woods. She knew exactly what it was and relaxed, snapping her fingers at Otabin, who relaxed at the command as King appeared before her from the shrubbery.

"To what do I owe the pleasure of the presence of the god of winter and darkness?" she asked, crossing her arms. She'd met King only once, and he'd been rather rude at that.

Some things didn't change.

"I have little interest in you, mortal, but my sister…," he snorted. "I have work to do as night falls, but Luz is waiting for you in the usual place," he said as he walked by her. For such a large creature with large paws, he made hardly a sound as he walked through the woods.

"The usual place…," she repeated aloud, watching him go before he disappeared into the darkness from whence he’d come.

"Where is the….," she started to say but then came to a sudden realization of where he was talking about.

She hurried down to the shore with Otabin at her side.

The temple of Baldur looked quiet and dark, abandoned despite it being a day of celebration for the god of light.

People had probably been to the temple earlier in the day to make appropriate offerings before starting their drinking and revelry.

She was just about to walk inside the darkened temple when movement out of the corner of her eye made her turn to look, and sure enough, standing in the sand on the beach, arms crossed and watching the sun as it disappeared below the distant horizon while her violet cloak fluttered in the slight breeze, was Luz. 

Amity smiled giddily to herself as she hurried down the rocky slope to the sand below, Otabin darting ahead of her with a loud growling bark that made Luz turn around and smile at the sight of them. 

She reached down and gave the white wolf a good scratch as he stopped at her feet. Amity ran to catch up and wasted no time throwing herself into Luz’s open arms. 

Luz grinned to herself as she wrapped her arms around Amity’s waist and spun her around, making the jarl giggle as she clung to her neck. 

“You made it.” Amity smiled up at her once Luz had finally set her back down. 

“I’m sorry it took so long, I just wanted to make sure everything was in order so I could spend the next few days with you,” she apologized, but Amity shook her head, her hands still wrapped around her neck as she pulled her down so she could press a long kiss to her mouth.

“I’m just glad you’re here,” she mumbled against her mouth. “I missed you…” she let her eyes slide closed when Luz held her closer and pressed her forehead against hers. Every inch of her was always warm, and despite the hot air of midsummer, she still felt warm, but pleasantly so.

“I missed you too,” the god admitted, squeezing. “I have something for you as well!” she grinned at her as Amity pulled back, just enough to look up at her, surprised. 

“For me?” she asked, and Luz nodded, smiling brightly. 

“For you,” she affirmed with a nod. 

“What for?” Amity can’t help but ask.

“Can’t I do something for you just because I love you?” the god asked, grinning and it made the warrior’s cheeks pinken a little. Anytime Luz did or said something that struck a certain chord in her heart it made her skin flush.

“Besides, you only have your twenty-second summer once.” Luz grinned and Amity resisted the urge to roll her eyes, deciding not to mention that you only turned every age once, even the gods. “I wanted to do something special for you, the solstice is your day too. You’re my champion and it was the day of your birth.” 

She was honestly surprised Luz remembered that, but maybe she shouldn’t have been.

“Thank you…,” she mumbled and Luz beamed at her, pecking her cheek. “So… what is it?” she asked curiously when Luz offered no explanation or package of any sort. The question only seemed to make her beam all the brighter.

“We have to wait until it gets dark,” was the cryptic reply.

“Alright then,” Amity smirked and they made themselves comfortable in the sand, watching the sun disappear as Amity told Luz what all she had missed in the village over the last two weeks. Which included but was not limited to: The twins helping Gus do something with a pair of sheep that she didn’t even want to guess at when the two had vanished after being seen with the twins and the god of mischief. Boscha almost bashing in the skull of a wandering warrior that had taken an interest in Willow and Hooty showing up wanting to fight her no less than two times.

“I don’t know why they're like this…,” Luz sighed, running her free hand through her hair, the other laced with Amity’s as they sat side by side in the sand, waves licking at their bare feet.

“They aren’t the only ones…” Amity smirked and Luz looked at her questioningly.

“What does that mean?!”

“The second time we met you were trying to hunt a boar by strangling it to death with your bare hands…” she gave her a look. 

“So?”

“So, you’re all ‘like that’,” she smirked as Luz colored.

“I’m not as bad as Hooty…,” she mumbled sullenly, which made Amity burst into laughter.

“No, no you aren’t,” she admitted, leaning into Luz’s shoulder and grinning. The god just smiled as she looked down at the jarl.

“Maybe I didn’t kill that boar either, but it was much better to have you kill it to protect me.” Luz’s smile shifted into a grin as Amity’s face pinked.

“You didn’t need protecting from it…,” she grumbled.

“No… but you didn’t know that.” Luz pressed a kiss to green-tinted hair and Amity hummed.

“It’s finally dark enough,” Luz finally said after a while, and sure enough Amity hadn’t even noticed the growing darkness as she sat there, enveloped in the light god's warmth and presence, the sky was alight with bright stars as she turned to Luz.

“Alright, so…?” Amity looked at her curiously.

“I’m sure you know most of the constellations, right?" Luz asked and Amity nodded, curious where this was going.

"Look there." Luz pointed a finger up at a certain section of the sky. "Do you see those stars there?" she asked, tracing her finger along several bright stars In the sky, the brightest of which had a greenish tint to it. 

"I see them, but... I don't know those…," she admitted, looking up at the unfamiliar pattern of stars. Luz just smiled at that.

"That's because they're new," she said and pulled the hand between them free from Amity's too poke holes in the sand in the same position as the stars in the sky.

Amity watched, fascinated as she then connected the lines into what Amity realized was the rough shape of a double-sided ax.

"Grøn skeggøx,” Luz said, seeming quite pleased with herself.

“The green ax?” Amity cocked a brow at that, but Luz only grinned brighter as she reclaimed Amity’s hand in the sand.

“A new constellation, representing you, my light.” 

Amity sucked in a sharp breath at that as she stared, wide-eyed up at Luz.

“F-for…” The jarl had no idea what to say, what could one say when a god gifted them with literal stars in the sky? Her lip trembled and water began to gather in the corners of her eyes as she looked up at Luz, speechless. The god herself looked a little panicked as she saw the tears that had started to gather in Amity’s eyes.

“Ah! Don’t cry, Amity, I’m sorry! I shouldn’t have…,” she rushed to get out.

“No! No…” Amity shook her head and wiped at her eyes with her free hand, squeezing Luz’s all the tighter in the other. “It’s… I don’t have any words to express how… amazing it is Luz.” she looked up at her, trying to blink away the rest of her tears. Luz seemed to relax and reached up to run her fingers over Amity’s cheeks, brushing the stray tears away with her thumb.

“So, you like it?” she asked and Amity nodded.

“It’s beautiful… I… you shouldn’t have,” is all she can say and it felt so lacking, but Luz smiled.

“I wanted to,” Luz kissed her forehead and grinned down at her when she pulled back. “It’s a little piece of you that will be part of all nine worlds till Ragnarok when all the stars go out.”

Never in all her life, Amity thought, had she ever felt so… full. Like her emotions were climbing all over each other, fighting to burst from her chest. What she felt for the god in front of her was indescribable with words alone, and to even try seemed like too daunting a task to undertake. 

Luz was looking at her with such tenderness that it made her insides melt and all she wanted to do was be close to her.

She bit her lip as a sudden thought came to her. She had her answer, and she could think of no better time than now. 

She ran her tongue over suddenly dry lips as she opened them to speak.

“I have something for you too…,” Amity finally said, squeezing Luz’s hand still wrapped in hers.

“Something for me?” Luz pointed at herself, eyes wide and Amity smiled at her and nodded.

“Yes… only if you want it,” she said, unsure.

“Yes, I want it!” Luz said quickly and Amity couldn’t help but laugh at her eagerness.

“You don’t even know what it is yet!” Amity grinned.

“Doesn’t matter, I want it, whatever it is,” Luz said, nodding quickly. “Anything you want to give me, I would gladly accept,” she declared, and Amity bit her lip but finally nodded.

“Okay.” She tugged her along by the hand to stand and they quickly put their shoes back on before Amity led her back to the village, and how she wished the village were much closer. Doubt was nagging at the pit of her stomach as they walked, an orb of light leading them through the darkened woods.

It’s the longest day of the year, so it’s quite late now for the sun to have vanished so completely and within the thick cover of the woods it may as well have been the dead of a winter’s eve. Luz’s light however brought her comfort, even if her stomach is roiling, for other reasons. 

The festivities are still in full swing inside the village though, and they go the long way around to avoid running into any of the drunken villagers, mid revelry. Otabin breaks off and runs into the village on his own, leaving the two alone as he headed straight for one of the many areas that had been set up to cook meat.

She spotted Willow and the god of storms, pouring back mug after mug of dark liquid and only rolled her eyes. She’s not sure she’ll ever understand the two of them, but at least they seem to be happy, though one would never guess by the amount of alcohol they consume or the time they spend yelling at each other. 

Her brother seemed to be leading the villagers in loud, drunken song from atop an empty mead barrel, but her sister is nowhere to be found, though, neither is Viney. She wasn't going to think about that too hard. 

They made it quickly up the hill to Amity's home without being spotted by any of the villagers.

Luz closed the door behind them and turned back around to face Amity. Who was discarding her ax and the few pieces of armor she usually wore. 

"So, … what did you want to give me?" Luz asked as she moved over to plop down on the bed behind Amity, who took a deep breath through her nose, her cheeks turned pink and she pushed down the nerves that threatened to overtake her as Luz watched her back curiously. 

"Me," she said quietly, and she heard Luz choke as she pulled at the ties and belt that held her tunic synched at the waist, fingers trembling as she undid the knots and finally pulled the magenta and gold fabric over her head before reaching up to pull out the string she used to tie up her hair, letting the green stained locks fall loose across the top of her bareback. She nervously swept it over her shoulder and waited for a reaction from Luz, refusing to turn around and face her yet.

It's the pinnacle of summer, and a fire was burning in the pit, so it's warm in her home, but goosebumps erupt across her skin anyway.

She'd always been rather proud of her scars before; most of them. Proof of battles won and death averted time and time again, minus the one time, of course, but now? Standing in front of someone whose body was unblemished by even the smallest of scratches or marks, Amity couldn't help but feel inadequate...

Ugly.

Her back is a mass of scars from the many beatings she had once endured, as well as other scars from battles more numerous than she could count.

Her whole body was tense as she wrung the magenta tunic in her hands, waiting for Luz to say something, anything to avert the quiet that filled her home and made the pounding of her heart in her ears sound like thunder.

Is the god appalled by the sight of her? The thought twisted itself like a knife in her heart. 

She was just about ready to call off this entire thing, tears prickling at the corners of her eyes when she heard the bed shift, and the rustling of fabric as Luz moved. It was quiet again for a second before she jumped. Warm fingertips brushed across her back, over the litany of scars that covered her skin from neck to waist, but especially the tattoo there.

Luz swallowed thickly as she ran her fingertips gently over Amity's skin.

She didn't know why she had never considered it before, given that most warriors she knew had them, but she was fascinated by the image inked across the jarls skin, straight down the center of her back.

Between her shoulder blades is the sigil of light, thick and prominent, outlined by simple knotwork, but below it is an arrow, it's tip and fletchings made of more knots, and at the center of its shaft, the wheel of the nine worlds. Luz ran her fingers down the inked image, it was slightly raised up and she could follow the lines in their patterns beneath the pads of her fingers. Amity shivered under the touch and Luz couldn’t help herself as she leaned forward and pressed a kiss to the sigil of light, making Amity's skin jump beneath her lips as she made a noise in the back of her throat, dropping her tunic to the floor. Luz smiled to herself as she leaned back to look at Amity.

[](https://ibb.co/g3861mY)  
The back of the warrior's neck was beet red and she could almost feel the heat coming off her as she ran her fingers over the rest of the marks.

Amity made a quiet noise in her throat when she felt Luz's lips press against her skin and thought she might combust.

The hand trailed away, down the rest of the black markings of her tattoo and down her sides to the small of her back, where she knew yet more scars crisscrossed their way over her skin, as well as the designs that lined the edges of the bottom of her arrow, disappearing beneath the edge of her pants.

Luz ran her fingers over all her scars, her hands were hot to the touch, leaving trails of fire in their wake and Amity vaguely wondered if the god was using her powers to make her touch warmer or if it’s just her growing sensitive to the gods caresses.

Luz knew how Amity felt about the scars on her face, caused by her parents rather than any real battle, but she knew that most of these, Amity prided herself on; took pride in her skills and ability to survive. All her siblings had them, even Gus and King, but Luz did not and had never been up close with anyone's this way before, allowed to really explore them at her leisure, but Amity showed no signs of telling her to stop and Luz won't turn down the opportunity, nor the occasional press of her lips to the ones within reach.

She drug her fingers gently across them, missing not a one with her tender ministrations. Some are short, not even the length of some of her fingers, while others span almost the entire length across her back. A few are so shallow they're barely scars at all, while others are deep divots in her skin that made Luz wince as she ran her hands over them; those made her heart ache, and she paid them extra attention.

But she loved them, all of them, they're a unique part of the jarl, of her being as a whole. It was only after she'd completed her mapping of Amity's back and sides with her hands that she can bring herself to finally speak.

"You're beautiful, Amity…," she mumbled.

Amity choked on her breath at that.

"You... don't think they're ugly?"

Luz blinked at the back of her head owlishly before frowning.

The fingers disappear from her shoulders and arms wrapped around her waist pulling her back, flush against the god's chest.

"Nothing about you could ever be anything other than resplendent to me, my light," she mumbled in her ear, holding her close and making Amity shiver as her breath ghosted over the shell of her ear. Luz’s fingers were splayed against her abdomen and the scars that took up residence there as well, almost, almost dipping below the hem of her pants, which made her breath freeze up in her throat and heat spread across her skin.

Amity swallowed thickly and turned in her grip and before Luz could say anything Amity was kissing her breathless as she slowly pushed her back toward the bed, fingers digging into her hair. Luz made a humming noise and pulled at her own cloak and tunic, separating from the warrior only to pull it over her shoulders.

It got stuck on her head and she heard Amity laughing at her as she tried to wrench the cloth loose, growling to herself before her head finally popped free, leaving her hair sticking up at angles.

Amity's snickering died in her throat.

Knowing is one thing, but seeing is another. The skin of Luz’s torso is completely perfect. Smooth expanses of dark, flawless, and unmarred flesh. Amity was afraid to touch her as she was reminded with shocking and sudden clarity that the woman in front of her was no ordinary woman, but one whose very essence was light and joy given physical form; a god in the flesh. 

Luz was nervous, the last person who saw her in any state of undress was probably her mother. She glanced up at Amity and saw the uncertain look in her eyes as her hand hovered in the air, hesitating.

The reason for Amity's sudden hesitation struck her like a bolt of her sister's lightning. That just wouldn’t do. 

She reached up and wrapped her hand around Amity's wrist, jolting her out of her thoughts as she pressed Amity's scarred fingers to the warm, unmarked skin of her collar over her heart, her other hand on her hip, bringing the warrior closer.

"It's just me…," her voice is low, as though speaking above a whisper will startle Amity and shatter this moment into a thousand tiny shards.

Amity's fingers splayed out over the warm skin, Luz's hand still wrapped around her wrist, she was hot to the touch beneath her palm, she could feel a soft pulsating, but maybe that was her own heart. 

After a second she huffed a low breath, amused by Luz’s quiet statement.

"Nothing about you is 'just' anything," she mumbled, glancing up at her from beneath her lashes. 

Luz leaned down to press her forehead gently against hers, her hold on her wrist unwavering and her thumb was swiping back and forth across the divot of Amity’s hip

"But with you, I can be," Is her answer. “With you, I can be just... me.” her warm breath wisped across Amity’s lips and the words curled themselves tightly around her heart.

She doesn't have a verbal response to that. The god had stolen all her breath, as she always did. Instead, she reached up to wrap her fingers around the back of Luz’s neck and pulled her forward to slant her lips over hers.

Luz hummed happily against her, the hand on Amity's hip sliding to wrap around her waist and the next thing she knew her back hit the blankets, all without Amity's mouth ever leaving hers.

When she pulled back, it was to trail wet kisses down the god's neck before sitting back, leaving them both panting and Amity staring down at her from her place straddled across Luz’s waist.

The jarl's eyes are glassy, and dark, like hardened amber, making Luz blink up at her, stupefied as her heart raced in her chest. She couldn’t describe the way she felt right this moment under Amity’s intense gaze even if she wanted, there was a heady mix of emotions all pulsating just beneath her skin, indistinguishable from each other, but they all pushed her in the same direction; to touch Amity. 

She reached up and with a feather touch, ran her left index finger across the long scar that bisected Amity’s face, starting at the tip above her left brow and slowly following the line across the bridge of her nose and over her right cheek where it ended, Luz’s fingers curling around her cheek and the curve of her jaw to gently hold her face.

The touch is so soft and reverent, it made the jarls chest constrict almost painfully as the smooth skin of Luz’s fingers trailed lovingly over the one scar that pained her most.

She reached up to press her hand over Luz’s where it had stopped, cupping her cheek and turned her head to press her lips to the smooth skin of Luz’s palm without ever breaking her hooded gaze from that of the god’s sprawled out beneath her,

“I love you,” it came out throaty and low, the hot breath on the skin of her palm made something scorching and sharp spike through Luz, and the words came out of her mouth before she could think about them.

“Show me.”

~

True to her prediction, Amity did thank Willow, profusely.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Friday All!
> 
> With that, Arc 1 is finished and we are on hiatus till after the start of the new year! Thanks, everyone who has been reading, enjoying, and leaving comments, they mean a lot to Tripower and I.
> 
> I will also remind that this story is, in fact, rated M. (though there won't be any Explicit scenes) 
> 
> Happy Holidays!


	16. Chapter 16

Luz was not supposed to be here, she knew or, rather, no one was supposed to be here actually.

She moved silently through the trees toward the river. Amity took great care to come here at dusk when no one was around so she wouldn’t be interrupted, the village knew not to bother her at this time of day either, those few that had tried over the years had regretted it dearly. 

Luz was fairly certain though that she wouldn’t mind one bit if it was her that showed up unannounced, especially since she had been gone. The summer solstice was upon them once more and Luz was no less busy than any other year, though her sister was to blame for this, she could always make time for her champion though.

She moved as quietly as possible, and for her, that is all but silent, King wasn’t the only one who could be quiet when he wanted too. Before she knew it, she was standing right on the banks of the river hidden by the thick shrubbery. Sitting in front of her on the shore was a pile of clothes. She immediately recognized the magenta cloak and dark gray furs as well as the large white wolf lying in the grass beside them. His ears were swiveled around toward her, he knew she was there, and he knew it was her because he didn’t move another muscle as she crept closer. 

A little further in front of them both, in the water, was Amity, bathing, green stained hair laying flat and wet against her back.

Luz grinned to herself, ducked behind the bushes. She hadn't seen Amity in two weeks, she had some affairs to see to with Boscha. The god of thunder had insisted that it couldn't wait and pulled her away before she could even say goodbye to the jarl, who had been out on a scouting mission, ensuring that the encroaching war was still a safe distance outside the village borders. So, Luz had to leave her goodbyes with Willow. 

But now that was taken care of and she’d made quick work returning to the village on the southern Isle.

Luz was familiar with her lover's schedule, of which Amity rigidly kept too, so she knew when she returned to the village and found the jarl's longhouse empty; she knew she’d gone to bathe in the river, and here she was.

How pathetic she felt sometimes, she’d been alive for thousands of years, but they all seemed so worthless in comparison to the last near three years she had spent at Amity’s side. She could not imagine spending any more of her incredibly long-lived life without the mortal. She wouldn’t, she’d rather die. 

Already Luz had made plans for after Amity’s eventual end, Valhalla is her destination, she knew, Luz has done everything in her power to make it so, well, Amity was a warrior with few equals, her place was always destined for the halls of Valhalla of the fields of folkvangr, where half of all slain warriors were taken by her mother, but folkvangr was farther away than her father’s glorious golden hall, so maybe she pulled a few strings, but Amity’s eventual place in Asgard is guaranteed to be the legendary mead hall, she’d made certain; where Luz can be near her always; her mother was still iffy on Amity anyway, best not to rock that boat. 

But for now, Amity still had years left attached to Midgard and Luz pushed away those thoughts for now as she stood fully and stepped out of the bushes.

The rustling caught Amity’s attention and before she even saw who it was, turned, throwing a dagger toward the shore where it embedded itself into Luz’s thigh. The god blinked down at the dagger, surprised and amused more than anything. 

“Luz!” She yelped, eyes wide.

“Do you greet all your lovers that way?” the light god laughed, pulling the dagger from her leg, and not a drop of blood spilled as the wound sealed itself.

“I do when they come sneaking out of the woods,” Amity smirked at her.

“Fair,” Luz chuckled, unclasping her cloak and dropping it to the ground along with the dagger. Amity sunk down to her neck in the water, suddenly feeling shy as her patron god looked at her that way, eyes half-lidded and pulling off her tunic, which was ridiculous. At this point, Luz was more familiar with her body than herself. 

“You left without saying goodbye…,” Amity mumbled, something to fill the quiet as Luz pulled off her boots and belt. 

“I know, I’m sorry. My sister couldn’t wait and I didn’t know when you would be coming back,” she explained hopping around as she tried to pull off her pants and fell onto her butt in the grass, which made Amity roll her eyes as she finally freed herself of the material and waded into the water. “You’re not angry, are you?” Luz asked, wrapping her arms around the warrior and setting a chin on her shoulder. 

“No,” she shook her head before she leaned against Luz’s chest. “I’m just glad you’re back. I miss you when you’re gone… everything is a little darker,” She hummed and Luz chuckled in her ear.

“I save all the best light for you,” she chirped and Amity smirked, rolling her eyes at the ridiculous god of light. 

“Oh, and do you have anything for me today, oh bright one?” she teased.

“Just me I fear, If a mighty warrior such as yourself would have this humble god tonight,” she breathed in her ear. 

Amity laughed, turning in her grip to wrap her arms around Luz’s neck, the water sloshed with the movement.

“I suppose you’ll suffice tonight, pray you make it worth my while bright one, there's no shortage of men or women who would happily grace my bed this evening,” she’s teasing, of course, they both know it, but fire, hot and almost angry erupts in Luz’s gut as her grip on the jarl tightens. 

“You’re mine, and I will give you every reason to never leave me,” Luz growled against her ear and it sent shivers up Amity’s spine. Luz was rarely the possessive type, but maybe that also had to do with Amity’s unquestionable devotion to Luz, as a lover and an adherent of Summer and light.

“I’d never leave you…,” Amity breathed as the god’s hands gripped her hips and laid kisses across her neck. “But I have to go tomorrow, the fighting is getting close again, we have to go and push them back,” she informed and Luz frowned against her neck. She pulled back to look into the jarls golden eyes and could see that Amity didn’t want to go either, as eager as she usually was for battle, she’d rather be with the god who had only just now returned to her, but it couldn’t be helped, and she knew it. Amity had to protect her people, and would at any cost, it was something Luz admired about the mortal warrior. It seemed somewhere across the sea, several of the other isles had broken out in war over the last year, lashing out at all others and it had finally reached the southern isle, though only marginally at the moment. 

She sighed, reaching up to run her thumb across Amity’s cheek and over the swell of her bottom lip. She wanted to ask her to stay, but it would be selfish, and Luz was trying hard to put her selfish, childish tendencies behind her, for Amity, who at a fraction of Luz’s years was more mature than the light god, but Luz had never needed to be mature before, not with an endless life spent in eternal youth, but for Amity, she tried hard to be more.

“Can I do your war paint before you leave?” she asked instead and Amity smiled at her.

“Sure”

"Oh…," Luz said, suddenly remembering. "When you get back, I want to take you somewhere,” she said, and immediately Amity is suspicious. The grin on Luz’s face is almost blinding and she’d learned to be wary when the god of light and joy became too joyful. Luz had a tendency to let herself get carried away, and unlike her deific lover, Amity was very much susceptible to injury, danger, and death.

“Where?” she asked, suspiciously. 

“It’s a surprise.” Luz grinned and Amity splashed her.

“No…,” she said, frowning.

“Wha- Why not?” Luz asked, blinking the water out of her eyes.

“Because, the last time you said you had a surprise for me, you set my home on fire,” she said, pushing the god to arm’s length to look at her.

“I’d never cooked before…," the god mumbled, pushing the wet hair back out of her face.

"How about my new 'cloak'?" She smirked and Luz's cheeks pinked.

"I wanted to make sure there was enough fur to keep you covered, a bear seemed like the right choice…," she mumbled, turning her head away, but Amity only reached up and gripped her chin between her fingers, making the god face her again. 

"Well, it certainly keeps me covered… though as a blanket," the jarl laughed. "You don't have the best luck with surprises, Luz." Amity smiled at her amused. The thought was there and Amity loved her for it, but the execution was always a little lacking. 

"This will be different, I promise, please, Amity?" Luz pleaded, pulling her back in close, splashing them both, and making the jarl giggle.

"Alright, alright. When I get back, we'll go," Amity said and Luz grinned brightly at her, her eyes taking on a faint glow that told Amity just how happy she was. 

~ ~

It was before dawn and the two sat in Amity’s home, both sitting cross-legged on the bed, Luz, still only half-dressed in her tunic, leaned forward, the picture of concentration while Amity wore a weary and exasperated look, and the jarl had yet to even leave for battle.

“Are you finished yet?” Amity grumbled. Her warriors were outside waiting for her. 

“Just hold still…,” Luz mumbled, tongue sticking out of her mouth as she dipped her fingers in the thick red paste before smearing some on Amity’s face with careful and controlled swipes of her fingers.

“I need to go, Luz,” Amity huffed.

“Do you want my blessing or not?” she mumbled, dragging a finger down the jarls cheeks.

“Are you saying you might take it away if I got up and left to do battle right now, maybe to die?” she smirked, watching the god frown and glare at her.

“Hush…,” she growled before sitting back to admire her work. “There, you can go slay heathens in my name now.” she grinned, making the jarl snort.

“How generous.” She rolled her eyes and started to slide off the bed but Luz stopped her, with a hand on her shoulder

“Be careful…,” Luz mumbled, pulling her into a much too brief kiss. Amity hummed, frowning as she pulled back.

“You never used to worry this much before…,” Amity said. “Do you... think I’ve gotten weaker?” she asked.

“What? No, of course not!” Luz sat back, eyes wide with surprise.

“Then why? Once I’d leave for battle and you wouldn't even bat an eye, so what's changed?" Amity demanded. More than anything she could not stand the idea that maybe Luz thought she was weak, maybe needed protection, or to be worried over. Maybe she wasn't invulnerable, but she was far from weak, and overcoming her past had proven it.

Luz frowned, gaze flittering to look anywhere but Amity, which annoyed the warrior.

"Just tell me!" she demanded.

"You died," Luz finally said, eyes locking with her. That made the jarl sit back, shocked and Luz sighed.

"You died, Amity and I brought you back, but that can only work once. Initially, when a god chooses a champion, their life becomes tethered to their patron’s, because of how that works, when you died I was able to pull your life back by tying it to mine. That connection already exists now, so if it's severed it will be for the last time…," Luz trailed off, hands balled into fists. "I won't be able to get you back… you're not weak, you’re the strongest mortal I know, I just worry..."

They sat there in silence for several long moments as Amity soaked in all that information, chewing on her lip thoughtfully.

"Would that really be so bad?" she asked finally and Luz's gaze whipped to her.

Luz's mouth opened and closed several times like she wanted to speak but had no idea what to say.

Amity did.

"When I die, for the final time… the Valkyries will come for me again, to take me to Valhalla, in Asgard, right?" she asked and Luz managed a nod. "Your home… wouldn't we still be together?" she asked and Luz could hear the slight tremble in her words that the jarl tried so hard to hide, that maybe the answer would not be the one she wanted to hear.

Luz frowned and reached out to take both of Amity's hands. Their fingers laced together and Amity could feel the warmth radiating off her.

"Yes," Luz finally said. "When you die, you will go to Valhalla… and we will be together," she affirmed.

"Then why are you so worried?" Amity frowned.

"Because I want you to enjoy this life, here in Midgard… I want you to have these things I can't…," she said quietly, but never broke eye contact with Amity.

"What do you mean?" 

"I mean, my own invulnerability makes it so that I cannot feel pain or be hurt… but this includes so many other things that I don't think my mother ever meant for it to. I can feel some warmth and cold... But I've never been hot or frigid… never really felt hungry or itchy... I've never really felt any kind of discomfort at all… and I know that for people who can that probably sounds like a blessing, but it isn't." 

Amity blinked wide gold eyes at the god of light as she went into detail on the specifics of her invulnerability and agelessness. She was well aware that Luz couldn't feel pain or heat, but she had never really asked for specifics and the god had never offered any, till now.

"From watching my siblings and just other people over the years I've learned that being able to feel pain isn't necessarily the bad thing everyone made it sound like… I do feel pleasure… but it seems like… it should be more. How do I explain…?" Luz hummed and caught sight of the faint dark blue and black markings she had left last night on Amity's neck.

"Ahh, like when I bite your neck!" she said suddenly and the jarl pinked. "You say you like it, but I know It hurts you too, doesn't it?" she asked. Amity nodded, reluctantly. 

"Or like that thing my sister says after a battle and she’s been injured 'hurts so good'. It took me a long time to understand that… and I'm not sure I ever really will entirely since I can't feel pain, but I realized...It's... the pleasure of living!" She threw up her hands. "Feeling pain... lets you appreciate everything else so much more, knowing that someday everything you have here will end and disappear with time… you’ll still be able to feel pain in Asgard, but nothing will ever change either... and that's not something I can ever really experience… but as a mortal, you can!" She grabbed Amity's hands again and squeezed them as the jarl looked at her, stupefied by this sudden realization Luz had given her 

"I want you to be able to experience that for as long as possible. Someday your mortal life will end and we'll be together, till Ragnarok, but for now, your life is important to me because I want you to be able to have all that. Does… does that make sense?" she asked, cocking her head to the side.

Amity, her eyes glassy, just nodded, squeezing the hands in hers back.

"Yes," she managed to say aloud.

"Good." Luz nodded to herself. "So, no, I don't think you're weak… I just want you to be careful with your life," she implored.

“I will," Amity promised, leaning forward to lay a soft kiss to Luz's mouth. "I'll be careful.”

Luz nodded, giving another brief squeeze before finally releasing the jarls hands.

"You better go, they're waiting for you." She smiled softly up at her as Amity stood and nodded.

"I'll be back soon," she said in farewell as she stepped outside, Otabin quickly following along behind her

She glanced over her shoulder at the god before closing the door of her home behind her and walked down the hill where Willow and the rest of the village warriors were waiting for her, thinking about what the god had said. 

It surprised her sometimes, how wise and insightful Luz could be. She was thousands of years old after all, but she had such a carefree and jovial nature it was easy to forget that most days. It was sometimes humbling to be reminded in such a way of just who Luz was.

“There you are!" Willow said as she approached. "We were starting to… why do you have the runes for ‘beautiful’ painted on your face?” the herbalist asked, eyes narrowed.

“What!?”

~ ~ ~

It’s not a particularly long battle, but it was intense. The would-be Invaders from one of the islands across the sea do not surrender and they do not take prisoners, nor let themselves be taken prisoner. It was a bloody slog to the end.

The summer heat was only increased by several fires that had become lit across the battlefield. An invader in a black cloak had caught himself ablaze and in his panic ran through the field. Being the height of Summer they had had little rain and the grass caught quickly adding an entirely new element to the field of battle as Amity slammed her ax into the chest of an attacker.

He spat up blood, weakly grabbing at the shaft with twitching fingers before she jerked it free, sending bright, crimson splatters of blood into the brown grass.

Amity had noticed a pattern in all these attacks she had been repelling for the last two months.

Most of the Invaders seem to all wear dark violets and creams and carry shields painted with a dragon's head. The large clan that inhabited one of the far off islands. Clan Glandis, they didn’t talk much, but what she can gather is they have come to conquer their far-off neighbors on the southern edges of the boiling Isles.

Not if Amity could help it.

She had noticed in the pattern, however, is that always, mixed in with the Glandis Invaders, are warriors dressed similarly to those that had attacked her village the night she had died. Their armor is a dark gray, and they wear cloaks and furs of black, but now it isn’t pitch black and pouring rain, she can see, the pins and insignias pinned to their chests are easily identifiable.

A woman's face, half skeletal and half alive.

The symbol of Hel, the god of the dead and the ruler of the Niflheim, the land of darkness, and where the dishonorable dead went after their deaths.

She'd known that while the southern isle where she lived, that was part of an overall collection of islands known together as the Boiling Isles, was predominantly light worship. Those who paid reverence to Luz before all other gods, the other islands had their own patron gods.

She knows that Glandis and their island in the east were predominantly adherents of Hel, of death.

She's going to need to talk to Luz about it. Hel was said to be a child of Loki, making Luz the death god's aunt, and the five divine siblings all seemed fairly close, so maybe Luz and Boscha could do something about this.

Something to bring up later, for now, they were coming at her with swords and axes. 

The Boneshaven warriors have all but routed the would be Invaders and were setting their empty ships ablaze. Amity looked around the battlefield when a war cry made her turn to look. A final warrior in black was rushing toward her, sword raised high and Amity ran to meet them, Otabin running ahead and sinking his fangs into the enemy's leg.

He cried out in pain, throwing off the swing of his blade, allowing Amity to quickly duck beneath it and spin around in a circle swinging the ax around to chop into the back of his other leg, severing the appendage to the accompaniment of a loud scream.

Blood is spurting from the mangled thigh and Amity assumed that to be the end.

She assumed wrongly, and with their dying breath, the warrior weakly slashed at her with his sword.

Amity let out a muffled cry as the blade sliced through the flesh of her calf.

She hissed between clenched teeth as Otabin, with a ferocious snarl sank his teeth into the downed enemy's neck.

He made a muted, gurgling sound and finally stopped moving.

She leaned down to press her hand tightly over her wound and could feel the blood seeping out from between her fingers.

Seeing the jarl leaned down in the dirt, Viney was quick to run to her side.

"Let me see…" she pulled the warrior's hand away and winced at the side of the wound.

"It's not great, but you'll live for certain," she said, pulling some fabric from the bag hanging off her shoulders and quickly wrapped the freely bleeding gash on her calf tightly, staunching the blood flow.

"Luckily for you, the battle is over or you'd be in trouble…," Viney mumbled, helping pull her up to stand. She almost buckled when she put pressure on her left leg, but Viney held her fast.

"Damnit…," Amity hissed, leg throbbing. 

"Come on, let's get you back to the village so Willow can tend to you better, or your sister will kill me," she mumbled the last part under her breath, but Amity heard it and couldn't help but snort.

They moved away from the field, their enemy laying in heaps on the grass, food for the crows and wolves

~ ~ ~ 

Luckily for her, Luz was not in her home when she made it back to the village, Viney, and Jerbo on either side of her, helping her walk and sent a warrior to fetch Willow as they helped Amity up the hill to her home.

It is, however, unlucky for her that the god of light had been with Boscha and Willow when one of her warriors had gone slamming into Willow’s home yelling that she had been injured in battle, leading to Luz practically kicking in the door to her home, looking panicked when her eyes zeroed in on Amity, sitting up in her bed, bloody cloth wrapped around her leg and still looking dirty an haggard from the battle.

"Amity!" Luz only took half a step before a pair of arms hooked themselves beneath the god of lights arms and hefted her off her feet.

"Boscha!" Luz snarled, kicking her feet and trying to slip out of her sister's grip. "Let go!” she struggled as Boscha walked into the room holding her younger sister aloft and moving out of the way for Willow to hurry inside.

“You can see her after Willow has looked at her leg, Luz.” the god of thunder grunted, not putting her down.

"But…!" Luz started, looking over her shoulder at her sister, who only narrowed her eyes at her.

"Can you patch up her wounds?" she asked, cutting off anything else the shorter god might have said. 

Luz went limp in her hold, pursing her lips and still looking aggravated, but gave up on her struggling.

"Be patient," The storm god admonished, which made Luz mumble something under her breath that sounded suspiciously like ‘I'm not a child’. 

Willow quickly went about unwrapping the bloodied temporary bandage and assessing the damage to the warrior’s leg. She hummed to herself but didn't seem overly concerned by what she saw as she set about cleaning it and pressing some herbs into it. Amity winced, hissing, and Luz looked like she was about to make another break for it, but Boscha just held her higher off the ground. 

It didn’t take Willow’s practiced hands long to wrap Amity’s leg and gave it a gentle pat.

“You should be okay in a couple of weeks,” she said and stood, moving out of the way so Boscha could finally release her sister, who was quick to scramble over the second after Boscha dropped her to the floor. 

"Does it hurt badly?" Luz asked her worriedly. The sword inflicted gash on her leg had looked quite bad to Luz, not that she was an expert on battlefield injuries. Boscha, who was now leaning against the wall, hadn't seemed too concerned by it though when Willow had begun to tend to her. 

"A bit, mostly I can't walk much… I’ll be alright,” she said as Luz sat herself on the bed at her side. Amity grabbed her hand a squeezed it

“Weren’t you going to take her somewhere?” Boscha asked her sister, who gasped.

“I almost forgot about that!” She turned back to look at Amity’s leg and bit her lip.

“How far is it?” Amity asked, frowning.

“Over a day's journey…,” she said quietly. 

“There's no way I can make that trek now...," Amity told the frowning god. “I'm sorry, Luz, I know how badly you wanted to do your surprise. It will have to wait till I'm healed,” Amity told her regretfully.

Luz shook her head frowning.

“My surprise… it’s something that only happens once or twice a year… we'd have to wait. By the time you’re healed enough to make the journey it will be too late to see it…,” Luz started to explain, but that seemed to be the wrong thing to say and only made Amity frown, feeling worse. "It's okay!" Luz quickly assured her by squeezing her hand. "We can just wait till the next time," she smiled and Amity sighed, still looking distraught, but nodded. Luz ran her thumb back and forth over Amity's knuckles. “It’s okay, my light. There will always be next time,” she tried to ease the jarl’s guilt. “I’m just glad you’re okay.” 

“I just know that you were excited…,” Amity said, looking at her and Luz shrugged. 

“Your life is more important,” she asserted, which made the jarl smile.

"Why don't you just carry her?" Boscha suggested with a tilt of her head after watching the two long enough that she thought she might be sick from their display. 

"Oh, I don't think…," Amity started but Luz jumped up, grinning broadly.

“Yes! I could carry her easy!” Luz agreed, turning to her grinning sister. Why hadn’t she thought of that? 

“You’re not exactly the god of strength…,” Boscha started, lifting her arm and flexing, her sleeveless summer tunic showing off the definition of her arms and making Willow roll her eyes, even as the corners of her lips quirked upward. “But you could easily carry Amity," Boscha agreed. 

"Her wound wasn’t bad enough that she needs bed rest, if you keep her off it, it should be fine,” Willow agreed. 

“What do you think?” Luz turned around and looked at Amity hopefully.

The warrior frowned, hesitating. She was well aware of just how strong Luz was, carrying her would be easy and she didn't know what the surprise was, but even before she had left for battle, the god of light had been so excited she could barely stand it. To watch her deflate the way she had moments ago stung Amity. To see her so down was unnatural for a being whose core was that of joy. 

On the other hand, she wasn't sure how she felt about being toted around by Luz to who knew where.

Luz seemed to pick up on her discomfort.

"After we leave the village no one will see you, and nothing will happen to you, I'll take care of you, I promise," she assured, kneeling down by the bed at Amity's side and squeezing her hand between both of hers.

"I know you would, Luz…," Amity smiled, she didn’t question that. “What’s so important that it can’t wait, that you’d rather carry me?” she asked and Luz smiled at her. 

“I can’t lie to you… so you’ll just have to see,” she said cryptically. Behind her, Boscha and Willow shared a knowing look, though Amity missed it 

"So?" Luz asked and Amity glanced around, Willow was smirking as she put away her things, trying to hide her expression from Amity, but Boscha wasn't even attempting to hide her wide grin, Amity ignored the grinning god.

"Alright, Luz," she agreed and Luz broke out into a wide grin, jumping up.

"Great, we'll leave in the morning! … so long as you feel up to it…,” she quickly added and Amity nodded, smiling at her, exasperated already, but she couldn’t deny that face for anything if she were able to make it so.  
~ ~

[](https://ibb.co/ZXz9Zx1)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am still on Hiatus(No, really...) but i have the next 5 chapters written so i thought i might drop this one for everyone to enjoy for now. Lots of good stuff to come! Happy Holidays!


	17. Chapter 17

It was just before dawn the next morning when Amity found herself being roused from sleep by a very excited Luz. The god was pressed up to her back, arm wrapped around her waist, and her lips pressed against her ear.

"We have to leave soon, Amity," Luz called gently in her ear, threading her fingers through her hair and running her nails across her scalp in gentle scrapes that made Amity hum. “Come on, you have to get up now so you can eat.” 

"No," the jarl grumbled letting her head roll to the side, away from Luz, though she didn't try to stop the soft scratching on her scalp that sent pleasurable tingles down her spine.

"But... my surprise…" Luz whined, shuffling closer, careful of the warrior’s injured leg. "I've already packed everything you'll need, but we have to leave now, Amity," Luz wheedled, snuggling closer into Amity's back, though the warmth radiating off her did little to make Amity want to get out of the bed. She grumbled incoherently under her breath and Luz whined in her ear.

"Amityyyyyy," the god pleaded.

"I'm up, I'm up!" She said thickly, yawning, and somewhere over their shoulders, they could hear Otabin yawn as well, complete with a high pitched, canine whine at the end.

"Great!" Luz popped up, climbing out of the bed and taking all the warmth with her, making Amity whine as well. She swore the god did it on purpose, used her powers to suck up all the warmth in order to make her get up in the mornings

She sighed and sat herself up, scratching the back of her neck lazily and blowing a strand of green-tinted hair out of her face.

She carefully moved so her legs hung down from the side of the bed but didn’t stand. Her leg was hurting her and she reached down to gently run a hand over the bandage. From her place digging out some food for the jarl, Luz noticed and set the wrapped up food down to pick up the package of herbs Willow had left for Amity to put on her wound, as well as fresh bandages. 

“Here, let me clean it,” she said as she walked over and knelt at the jarl’s feet. 

“I can do it, Luz,” Amity weakly argued. They’ve had this conversation before, a number of times over the last almost three years, but especially the last year as more battles had cropped up. Amity wasn’t sure if it was because of her invulnerability that drew her to them or just Luz’s caring and loving nature, but she liked tending to Amity’s wounds when she was hurt; the same way she lavished her scars with affection. 

It was a little embarrassing at times, the tenderness and affection Luz put into the gestures, but Amity would never tell her to stop - it would be a lie to say she doesn’t enjoy the god fussing over her. It makes something soft and warm curl up around her heart that she’d never experienced before Luz. 

Being taken care of, it was strange after a lifetime of being the only one she could really count on. Strange but she liked it, at least she did when it was Luz. 

“I’m already here.” The god waved away her hands and set about removing the dirtied bandage and with careful hands, cleaning the wound as Willow had shown her. 

She does it with slow, soft touches, careful not to hurt the warrior anymore than she already is. Completely unaware of the look Amity is giving her as she concentrates on her task.

With a new, clean bandage firmly in place, she leaned back and looked up, just in time for the jarl to lean forward and press a kiss to her forehead.

“Thank you,” Amity mumbled and Luz grinned at her.

“Of course… Now you need to eat and we can go!” she hurried back over to grab the food she had been getting before.

When Amity finished eating and getting dressed, with the god's help, She secured the bundle of supplies to her back as well as her ax, despite Luz’s assurance that she wouldn’t need it.

“I like to have it with me,” she defended and Luz didn’t argue, just squatted down in front of her with her back to her, hands behind her to grab the jarl.

“Alright, hop on!” Luz grinned at her over her shoulder and wiggled her fingers at her.

Amity grumbled a little to herself but slid onto Luz’s back anyway, arms warped loosely around her lover’s neck as Luz’s hands grabbed underneath her thighs before standing.

“Aaand scoop!” She grinned, lifting Amity effortlessly. The jarl only rolled her eyes. “Otabin, let’s go!” the god grinned and the wolf ran out the door ahead of them, heading down the hill excitedly.

The twins and Willow were waiting at the gates when they got there.

“Where’s Boscha?” Luz asked, looking around for the tall redhead. Willow rolled her eyes fondly.

“Asleep, she didn’t want to get up when I tried to wake her so we could come to see you off, but she said good luck.” The herbalist smiled at them. Luz snorted, that sounded like her sister.

“Hope you two have fun… wherever you’re going,” Edric said, looking at Luz who just grinned at him. She had told Boscha and Willow what she was doing, but not the twins, the two had a tendency to use information to their advantage when they had it. It was no wonder to Luz that the two had become two of her brothers' favorite adherents; they were devious when they wanted to be, or even when they weren’t trying to be. 

“Are you sure you’re up for this Amity?” Emira asked her, looking worried at her leg. 

Luz made a face, about to protest, but Amity beat her to it.

“It will be fine, Luz will take care of me,” she said and smirked into Luz’s shoulder when the god puffed up, chest out and chin up. It was so easy to stroke the other woman’s ego, and she didn’t mind doing it. Luz, unlike the rest of her siblings, seemed to lack the rest of her family’s cocksure nature, and often expressed doubt in herself or her power, but Amity knew better; she’d seen exactly what Luz was capable of when she wanted to. 

"If you're sure…," Emira said.

"You have all the herbs and bandages I packed for you?" Willow asked.

"It was the first thing I packed." Luz nodded.

"Have fun then." The herbalist raised a hand in farewell as they turned to go, Heading quickly down the path away from the village.

"Be careful!" Emira shouted at their backs.

"Don't do anything I would do!" Edric called with a laugh, which made Amity roll her eyes as they left the village, Otabin trotting along at their side.

"So, are you going to tell me where we're going now?" Amity asked, resting her chin on Luz's shoulder. The god just grinned, looking at her from the corner of her eye.

"Nope, you'll see when we get there, that's the surprise part," she said. 

"I don't like surprises," Amity grumbled, closing her eyes.

"Well, you’re going to like this one... I think you'll like this one... I hope you'll like this one…," she said the last part to herself much quieter, but from her position practically laying on the god's shoulders, Amity caught it.

"I'm sure I will, Luz," she said, leaning her head against hers.

"It's going to be kind of a long trip, you could go back to sleep if you want. I know you didn't sleep very well last night…," she trailed off.

"Were you watching me sleep again?" Amity asked, smirking as Luz's cheeks flushed; she was caught.

"Well… I don't really need to sleep so… maybe…," she grumbled. "Besides, you were tossing and turning so much even if I hadn’t been, I wouldn’t be able to guess." She turned her head to look at Amity as best she could. Amity hummed in response.

"My leg was bothering me," she admitted. "It was hard to find a comfortable position," was the already sleepy reply. 

Luz's natural warmth was quickly lulling her back to sleep. The god grinned to herself as she realized this as well. 

"If this is better, go to sleep," she encouraged. 

"I don't want to leave you to yourself for the next several hours of this trip…" her voice is growing thick, and her eyelids heavy.

"It's okay, I have Otabin to keep me company, just sleep, Amity." Luz's quiet voice in her ear only furthers her descent back into dreams.

She grumbled something half unintelligible as she drifted off, body going limp against Luz’s back and the deity only smiled, making sure her grip on the jarl was secure but gentle, and before she knew it, Amity's soft even breaths in her ear were the only sounds outside her and Otabins's footsteps. 

“Sleepy,” she laughed quietly, looking down at the waist-high canine, whose blood-red eyes looked up at her almost knowingly. 

~ 

A cold wind was biting at her face.

Unconsciously, she turned and buried her face into Luz’s neck, hiding from the cold. She heard the god chuckle quietly and grumbled, tightening her hold on her shoulders. It took her a few minutes to awaken enough to come to a startling realization.

It was the middle of summer.

Why was there a biting cold wind on her face?

Her eyes popped open and all she could see was jagged gray rocks passing them by.

“Huh… what?” She leaned back and yawned as she looked at their surroundings. 

"Finally awake I see." 

Amity looked at Luz who was looking at her over her shoulder from the corner of her eye.

"How long have I been asleep?" the jarl mumbled, rubbing sleep from her eye with her fist.

"Half the day."

"Half the… Luz, why didn't you wake me up!?" Amity huffed.

"You were tired, why would I wake you up?" Luz asked, brows furrowed between her eyes with confusion as she continued forward on the craggy stone path ahead of them.

"I feel bad… leaving you by yourself half the day as well as carrying me…," she admitted wrapping her arms back around the woman's neck.

"I wasn't alone, I had Otabin, and you were tired, you always are the day after you come back from a battle, I knew you'd sleep," she said with a shrug Amity could feel rather than see.

Another cold wind whipped at her face making her eyes squint against it.

"Where are we?" Amity asked, looking around. It looked like they were on a mountain, far below she could see the forests, blobs of dark green spattered around the rocks and cliffs at the base.

“About halfway up Himinbjorg, give or take," Luz said as she hefted Amity a little higher. 

"Himinbjorg?" Amity repeated. "As in Mount Himinbjorg?" She asked and Luz nodded.

"Yup!"

"As in the sacred mountain where the Bifrost connects Midgard to Asgard?" 

"The same," Luz chuckled at the wondrous tone in her voice.

"Where… what… why?" Amity is looking at her, bright, gold eyes wide with questions and wonder.

"My surprise is here!" Luz said.

"We're not going to… Asgard, are we?" Amity asked quietly, in awe.

"No, only the dead and other gods can walk across the Bifrost, I wouldn't even be able to carry you over it, others have tried." 

Amity just hummed as another cold wind ran across her exposed skin, making her shake. All she had on was her summer tunic and light pants.

Luz felt the warrior shiver against her back and stopped.

"You better change before we go up any higher." Luz moved over to a rock and gently set the jarl down. Otabin moved quickly to her side, setting his head in her lap. Amity scratched the space between his ears, much to his delight.

"You brought my winter clothes?" She asked, looking up from her white-furred companion.

"Yeah, but it gets really cold, and most of the year there's a snow-storm that makes it cold enough that it usually kills mortals within an hour…"

Amity's eyes widened at that but Luz waved a hand as she took the pack from the jarl and started pulling out Amity's long-sleeved, magenta winter tunic.

"That's why I had to bring you now, my powers will keep you warm, but also, this is one of the few times a year Heimdall takes a break and the storm stops, it's why we had to come now, so you can see what I want to show you." Luz grinned excitedly to herself as she handed Amity the tunic.

Once she was changed, she could still feel the cold biting at her and Luz noticed and grinned to herself as she pulled something else from the pack, and the moment Amity saw it she groaned, face heating up.

“I can’t believe you brought that!” she groaned as Luz held up the bearskin ‘cloak’ she had made for her, the one that she had relegated to a blanket as it nearly touched her ankles when she wore it and swallowed her whole, making it impossible to fight in, but also one Luz had… playfully used once during a more intimate moment, making it hard for the jarl to look at it seriously. All she could see was the bear head on Luz’s face while she growled at her. Her red, wind chilled face turned even redder. 

“You're not going to be doing any fighting or moving, I’m carrying you up the mountain and it will keep you warm! It’s only going to get colder the higher we go.”

“I’m not wearing that…,” Amity crossed her arms defiantly and Luz frowned.

“Put it on or we’re going back, you’re cold,” Luz said, holding it up in front of her and leveling the jarl with a serious look.

“Then take me back.” Amity narrowed her eyes, calling the god’s bluff. Luz frowned, her bottom lip jutted out as she looked at Amity with large, pleading eyes that made the jarl sigh violently. “Fine!” she huffed. “Give me-” she didn't even get a chance to finish the sentence before Luz had thrown the skin over her, situating the bear head atop her hair, it’s fangs grazed her forehead.

“There, now you'll be nice and warm.” Luz smiled at her and Amity huffed but couldn’t find it in herself to be annoyed long with that bright smile. 

“Fine, can we go now?” she asked, still at least trying to appear annoyed, but Luz knew better. She carefully kept her mouth shut and nodded, situating Amity upon her back once more and moving back up the rocky mountain path toward the top.

“I’m trying to decide what it is up here that you want to show me if not Asgard,” Amity hummed, resting her chin on Luz’s shoulder as she wrapped her arms loosely around her chest.

“You’ll just have to wait and see,” was the cryptic response, but even without seeing her face, Amity can just hear the grin in her words. Luz was quite pleased with herself, she could tell, and she was not going to admit it aloud but she was quite toasty between the thick bearskin hanging from her shoulders and Luz’s back pressed into her chest. After sleeping so long, she’s not tired, but the warmth she feels, both externally and internally lull her into a relaxed state that she could only ever find in the god’s presence. She squeezed Luz tighter, burying her face into her neck as she was overcome with a sudden wave of affection for the woman in her grasp as they made their way steadily toward the peak of the mountain, Otabin trotting along ahead of them, stopping every other second to sniff at a plant or an interesting rock. 

“I love you.” 

Luz’s steps faltered for a split second at the quiet, reverent words mumbled into her ear.

“Hmm, what brought that on?” she asked as she moved forward. She can’t turn her head because of Amity's nose shoved into her neck but she felt the jarl give a little shrug.

“Can I not just tell you I love you?” she mumbled, her hot breath on Luz’s neck.

“You can…,” Luz trailed off. “I just can’t help but wonder,” she finished. 

Amity shook her head, laying a brief kiss on the god's neck.

“No reason…,” she murmured and Luz tilted her head so she could try and get a better look at Amity, who just looked at her from beneath the bear head, lids low and gold eyes bright.

Luz hummed, gently tapping the side of her head to Amity’s in lieu of the kiss she’d have preferred to give. She’d rectify that later.

“I love you too,” she said. 

Amity smiled into the god's shoulder as they continued up the slopes.

The higher up they moved the more the grays and browns of dirt and rock began to be covered by the whites of thick, newly fallen snow and the temperature continued to drop. Amity would never admit that she was glad to have the bearskin ‘cloak’ Luz had made for her, even if it was ridiculously large and couldn't be used as a cloak. It had been a gift from the god and was still quite nice in the winter, and right now, up on the frigid mountain top.

It was nearly completely dark when they finally reached a place just below the peak. Otabin ran around exploring the rocky shelf they were standing on. Luz quickly moved to the edge, the whole of Midgard seemingly laid out before them.

"Do you see that over there?" Luz nodded at something in the distance above them at the very peak of the mountain, something that glittered and shined in the distance.

She squinted at it and could see several different colors, a veritable rainbow sparkling in the distance.

"Is that…," she trailed off as what she was seeing hit her.

"The Bifrost, the bridge to Asgard." She nodded.

"But that's not what you brought me here to show me right?" Amity asked and Luz shook her head.

"No... I brought you to see… ah, there it is now!" Luz said as she looked up at the sky.

Amity looked up and her eyes widened at what she saw.

The Northern lights.

[](https://ibb.co/zm44Qkz)

Amity had seen them before of course, in all different colors over the years, crimson reds, sunny yellows, and sometimes colorless, sparkling white like freshly fallen snow.

Tonight, they were bright greens with the occasional hint of bright violet and cobalt blue braided between the bright jade and emeralds. Waving ribbons of color that lit up the sky as they appeared to weave their way between the stars and across the face of the crescent moon, casting all of the heavens in their light. 

From the summit of Mount Himinbjorg, they almost looked close enough to touch, as though she could reach her hand up and run her fingers through the misty bands of luminescent hues.

It was breathtaking.

Luz smiled at the silence above her shoulders, she could tell that Amity was speechless and she patted herself on the back for this idea. When she’d brought it up Boscha and Willow had thought it would be perfect too.

"Is this your doing as well?" Amity asked after a few minutes of staring up into the bright lights of the sky with her mouth ajar.

"Ahh, no, I can't take credit for this," Luz chuckled. “Not exactly anyway, the light from the stars is mine, but this...”

"I was always told that the lights were the reflections of the stars on the armor of the Valkyries and dead warriors as they lead them to the Bifrost," Amity said, never taking her eyes off the sky.

"That's exactly what they are, look close," Luz said and Amity did. She stared intently up into the waving lights and from Luz's back, and now that she was looking for it, she could see them.

The small figures of winged horses and their riders, followed by ghostly figures in armor.

"You can see them because your connection to me as my champion lets you see things most mortals can't," Luz explained. "What do you think?" she asked after a few more silent moments.

"It's amazing…," Amity mumbled as she watched the procession of the dead as they made their way to their final resting place in Asgard.

It was hard to describe the feeling in her chest, one of such abject wonder and amazement that she couldn't think of any proper words with which to give it voice.

Amity’s grip on Luz’s shoulders tightened.

"Thank you for bringing me, Luz.” She leaned back down to squeeze her from behind, her head pressed against hers and Luz beamed to herself. “I know this is a busy time of year for you…” she started and Luz tutted.

“I wanted you to see and I wanted to bring you,” she hummed, squeezing the back of the jarl’s legs. “I’ll always make time for you, Amity.” 

They stood there a long while, watching the endless procession of warriors and their Asgardian guides trail through the sky. 

The temperature had continued to drop as the last traces of light from the sun vanished and her nose and fingers were numb, till she stuck the digits down the front of Luz’s tunic.

Amity spread her frigid fingers across the warm skin of Luz's collar and hummed contentedly at the warmth there. 

Luz just smirked, she couldn’t feel the biting cold, though she could still feel the slightly cooler temperature, so she knew Amity must have been quite cold as they stood there, staring up at the sky.

It only took a moment though, even as she was distracted by the lights to notice something missing. Amity’s fingers quickly swept back and forth across the god’s neck and chest. searching.

“It’s kind of cold for that don’t you think?” Luz laughed, glancing at her over her shoulder with a cheeky grin, but Amity wore a face of confusion.

“Where’s your medallion?” Amity asked, and watched as Luz’s eyes went wide and the grin fell off her face.

“Oh… uh,” she hesitated, and Amity cocked a brow, frowning. Luz never took the medallion off, not when bathing or even when they slept together, she’d been smacked on accident with the solid gold pendant enough times to know. 

“Ah, well.... you see…,” Luz hemmed and hawed, trying to think of something to say. “It’s in my pocket,” she finally said, giving up. She couldn’t lie to Amity, she’d sworn an oath to never tell the jarl a single lie again and no matter what, Luz was a god of her word. 

“Why is it in your pocket?” Amity asked, Luz, frowned for a moment before she walked away from the cliff’s edge to a large rock and squatted down to deposit Amity onto it before she turned to face her and pulled the shining gold necklace from her pocket, running her thumb over the deep engraving of the sigil of light before she knelt down in front of the jarl. Amity just blinked at her, confused.

“Because, I was hoping… that after tonight, I wouldn’t be wearing it anymore,” she said and Amity blinked at her a second, confused.

“Why wouldn’t you…,” she stopped mid-thought as the reality of the situation dawned on her and she looked down at Luz kneeling in the snow with the medallion in her hands, looking quite nervous as she stared back up at her.

“Oh… oh gods!” Amity sat up straight at the implications of that statement. “Luz…” she started but Luz quickly carried on. 

“I brought you here because I thought it would be a special place to do this… You said that someday when things were better between us I could ask you … so I’m asking you now If you would accept this.” She held the pendant up, the bright blue and green lights in the sky reflected off of it’s shining golden surface and onto Amity’s face like water. “Would you be my wife?” Luz finally asked. 

“Are… you sure?” she asked instead and Luz blinked, that hadn’t been any of the possible answers she had been expecting. 

"I… what?" She was just confused now as she blinked up at Amity, hands lowering as she frowned. Amity chewed on her bottom lip.

"Are you sure... that it's me you want for the rest of your eternal life?" She asked. "You’re thousands of years old, Luz, and we’ve only been together for three… how can you be sure after such a small span of time that it’s me you want?” she asked quietly, her breath came out in a cloud between them.

Luz shuffled closer, her hand closing around the medallion and the other reaching up to rest on Amity’s knee.

“Amity… you’re right, I've been around a long time, but that's how I know." She leaned up so she was eye to eye with the jarl. "I've known many people and been so many places… but in all that time, I've never met anyone that made me feel the way you do, not ever. I know that there's no one else I want in my life always." She squeezed her knee and Amity's hands fisted into the fabric of her pants, unshed tears stinging at her eyes.

“I love you, Amity and I only want you. I know I'm not always the easiest person to deal with. For a god, I make a lot of mistakes, and I’ve made some big ones with you, for which I’m so grateful for your forgiveness and I intend to never repeat them, to try and always be what you deserve, for a long as you’ll have me…," Luz said and Amity tried hard to choke back the emotions welling up in her throat. 

"So… will you accept my medallion… accept me?" Luz held up the medallion again and Amity's breath came out in a shudder as a stray tear managed to squeeze past, sliding down her cheek.

"Yes" she nodded, wiping at her face. “Yes… because you’re the only one I want to.” 

Luz beamed brightly at her and she leaned forward, pushing back the bear head to slip the necklace over her head.

The familiar weight settled on her chest and a gentle warmth emanated from it even through the thick layers of her clothes. She laid a hand over it, feeling the deep, smooth cut lines of the sigil of light engraved upon its surface, Luz’s sigil.

Then she looked up to see Luz smiling at her, but her eyes were glassy like she was going to cry and Amity couldn't control herself. She flung herself forward laying a deep, heated kiss on the gods' lips, sending them both careening back into the snow, which made Otabin dart forward to happily lick both their faces, his tail wagging rapidly back and forth, making them both laugh until Luz could push the white wolf away.

"Hey, are you okay?" Luz asked, searching her face for any signs of discomfort. Amity just nodded, ignoring the pain in her leg, it protested the sudden jolt she'd taken, but she couldn’t not kiss that face after that.

"I'm fine, Luz.... everything is perfect.” She squeezed her tightly and Luz wrapped her arms around her and squeezed back.

After a while they finally parted, but stayed there, sitting in the snow, watching the lights and the Valkyries flying back and forth, though Luz gently picked up the warrior and moved her on to her lap, to keep her dry and out of the snow, she also flipped up the bear head with a grin, much to Amity's annoyance, even if it kept her ears warm.

After a while they decided it was time to head back down, it was pitch black, save the northern lights above them, but Luz's lights lit the way to the bottom of the mountain where they decided to make camp and head back to the village in the morning. Amity was exhausted, even though she hadn't had to climb the sacred mountain herself, the cold sapped all her energy, and she was still recovering from the other day’s battle. 

Luz quickly set up the elk hide tent for them while Amity sat on a rock, getting a fire blazing to life. Once she had, she turned to the bag and started to dig through it.

She immediately found what she was looking for was not there and continued to dig until the bag was empty.

"Luz…," the jarl started in an exasperated tone as she called to her new betrothed.

"What?" Luz glanced over her shoulder from her place, finishing tying the last rope to a nearby tree.

"Did you pack any food?" The jarl asked, looking into the darkness of the forest over the fire in front of her as she waited for an answer she already knew.

There was a long pause, all movement behind her growing still.

"Shit!" Luz finally cursed, followed by a loud slapping sound and Amity knew without even having to look that the god had slapped her palm against her face.

This was hardly the first time this had happened.

Not having to eat, Luz sometimes forgot that Amity, in fact, did.

"I am an idiot!" She yelled into the quiet night.

"You're not an idiot." Amity finally turned around to look at her and she couldn't help but grin to herself as she watched Luz pace around in front of their tent, smacking the heel of her palm against her forehead. "You don't feel hunger, so it's to be expected that sometimes you forget." Amity shrugged. It was honestly rather amusing to her, and just one of the things she'd grown used to with an immortal lover. 

“I’ll go out and find something,” Luz declared and Amity blinked at that.

"I can just send Otabin to hunt," Amity quickly said and the wolf, at the call of his name, jumped up and trotted over. 

Luz frowned at the wolf, arms dropping to her sides. 

"Let me go, Amity, I've been practicing with Boscha, we’ve been on several hunting trips. I can do this!" Luz pleaded with the jarl who looked unsure.

"I'm not saying you couldn't, Luz, but maybe it would just be easier to let Otabin go…," she trailed off and could tell by the way Luz deflated that that wasn't what she wanted to hear.

"Luz…" Amity started, frowning.

"I will out hunt him!" She pointed at Otabin, who trotted over to her, he only looked happily up at her, tongue lolling out of his mouth.

“Ya know what, Luz, fine. You can both go hunt and the winner will be the one who comes back with food first.” She wasn’t going to argue with her about this

“Yes!” Luz grinned. “...can I borrow your ax?” She asked the question with a sheepish grin. Amity gave her a long look before holding it out to Luz, who laid a hand on it but Amity did not yet let go.

"Do. Not. Lose. It. Or I'll get a new betrothed…," Amity said seriously, making the god chuckle nervously.

"I'll take extra good care of it, my light," she promised before Amity let it go.

"Otabin," Amity called as she turned to the wolf, who sat at attention, ears swiveled forward and looking serious at the stern call.

"Seek," the jarl commanded and the wolf darted off into the dark of the woods.

"The only one providing for my betrothed is me!" Luz shouted after him and she took off running into the woods, ax in hand.

Amity shook her head in exasperation as the two disappeared.

She and Luz had had this conversation before. She didn't need to be 'useful' or some great hunter or warrior like her siblings and provide for her. Amity could take care of herself, she wanted to be with Luz because she loved her.

She turned her vision up toward the sky. She could still see the northern lights shining above them, though now she was much too far away to see the Valkyries within the glow, but she knew they were there, and that was something. She didn't think she would ever forget that.

She reached up and ran her fingers over the warm gold metal hanging comfortingly around her neck, sitting with a solid, reassuring weight on her chest, over her heart.

It was strange, she'd been without the medallion for much longer than she'd worn it when it had been in her possession before, but it felt like something she'd lost had been returned to her. It felt right, like a piece of her had been restored. 

In a way she knew she was meant to be with Luz, it was fate, her heart wanted no one else and the medallion had always been hers ever since Luz had first given it to her. It had simply been temporarily returned to the god.

She sat there quietly contemplating the last three years running her fingers over the medallion when a rustling in the trees made her lookup.

Her whole body tensed as she realized that with both Luz and Otabin gone as well as her ax, she was left here defenseless and injured until one of them returned.

The rustling grew louder and louder and then a figure burst out of the trees.

Her whole body relaxed as the large white wolf came trotting forward.

Amity smiled when she saw what he had in his mouth and took it from him.

A bundle of mistletoe.

"Good boy!" She praised him, scratching behind one of his tall, pointed ears before she threw the dreaded plant into the fire where it popped and sizzled.

She could have sent the wolf out to hunt, but she wanted to give Luz this one, She knew the god just wanted to prove that she could provide for her too, now she just hoped her love actually came back with something she could eat, she wouldn't starve before they returned to the village, but she still would like to eat.

It was at least an hour before the god returned, and not empty-handed as Amity had feared, but with a fawn slung over her shoulder.

The second she saw the wolf already sitting at Amity's side though she frowned.

"He beat me…," she mumbled.

"I'm afraid he didn't bring anything back though…," Amity said and Luz immediately perked back up.

"Well, I did bring you something!" She held up her own catch proudly and Amity couldn't help but smile at how pleased Luz seemed by this. She'd made the right choice, for a god, Luz seemed to doubt herself often.

It took a little while to clean and cook her meal and once it'd been eaten Amity was exhausted and wasted no time letting Luz help her into the tent and as she usually did, the god created a small orb of light to banish the dark from within the tent for the jarl.

She curled up in the bearskin, laying carefully on her side, with Luz pressed into her back, an arm wrapped around her waist.

"Amity…," Luz's low voice suddenly called in her ear. 

"Hmm?"

"I know you let me beat Otabin…," she suddenly said and Amity stiffened. She couldn't tell from the tone of her voice if Luz was angry or not. “He never comes back empty-handed.” 

They lay in the quiet for a moment before she finally spoke.

"I'm sorry, Luz, I just…"

"No, it's okay… I know that I'm not exactly the greatest hunter and he's literally a killing beast… I just… I wanted to show you, at least once, that when you're hurt you could rely on me," Luz said quietly in her ear.

Amity carefully turned over so she was facing her and looked into Luz's bright, deep brown eyes.

"I know I can rely on you, Luz. That's why I didn't send him to hunt," she said and Luz's eyes widened a fraction at that. "It didn't need to be a competition, Otabin is a good and loyal companion, but you're who I've chosen to be with, I know I can rely on you. You're the only one who thinks otherwise," she said, reaching up to run a hand over Luz's cheek.

"I know… I'm sorry. It's just… with siblings like mine, it's hard not to feel like I should be doing more. That I should take care of you. Like I should... be more," she sighed. Amity snorted at that.

"Well I'm not marrying any of your siblings," Amity said, desperately trying not to think of the idea of being betrothed to the beady-eyed god of war. "And I don't need taking care of, most of the time," she admitted, nudging Luz with her injured leg. "But when I do, I know you will, so please, just relax," she said, nuzzling her head beneath the god's chin and wrapping her arms around Luz's waist.

She could feel more than hear the contented humming noise the god made in the back of her throat, the vibration tickled her cheek.

"I will, I will," she promised with a chuckle.

"Good, now let me go to sleep,” she grumbled against her neck. 

Luz chuckled and laid a kiss on the warrior’s forehead.

"Sleep, I'll watch over you and Otabin," Luz promised quietly and Amity let herself drift off to sleep, cocooned in the god's warm arms.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We hath returned!


	18. Chapter 18

It was mid-afternoon when they arrived back at the village.

Otabin ran straight to the group of village children playing in the village square, making them scream and squeal in excitement as he hopped around them excitedly, tail wagging and licking their faces. Like his master, Otabin also loved the children and if Amity wasn’t in battle or patrolling the outskirts of the village, he spent his time playing with them. Amity and Luz let him be and headed straight for Willow's home so she could look at Amity's leg. Luz had done everything she had been instructed to do to take care of it, but they both would prefer if the herbalist looked at it.

A handful of villagers nodded or waved to them as they passed. After all this time, Luz was just as well known and loved by the people of Boneshaven as Amity was, though they wished all her siblings didn’t come around so much. Especially the tall one and the one with the staff. To the people of Boneshaven, trouble always seemed to follow the two brothers; Luz could only snort at that - they had no idea. 

It didn’t take long for Willow to answer the door after they knocked.

"You're back!" She smiled looking between the two of them knowingly with the way they're smiling. "So?" she asked with a wide smile that told Amity that the herbalist definitely knew beforehand about just where and why Luz had taken her to Mount Himinbjorg. 

“What are you wearing?” Amity couldn’t help but ask instead when she noticed the elkskin hanging off the herbalist’s shoulders.

“Oh... it's, uh…” Willow mumbled, cheeks pinking as the two looked at her curiously.

"Is that Luz and your jarl?" Boscha's voice called from inside the home before Willow could answer the question and she stepped to the side to let the two of them come in.

"Have we come at a bad time?" Luz laughed when she saw her sister, torso half sticking out of a barrel of steaming hot water.

Her long red hair was laying loose and wet against her back. She snorted in response. 

"What, you never saw a god have a bath?" Boscha snorted, crossing her arms.

"Actually I have," Amity mumbled in her lover's ear. Luz laughed and sat her down on the herbalists' bed.

“I’m washing her hair,” Willow said as she moved to kneel in front of the jarl and unwrapped the bandage on her leg to look at her wound. 

“You need help washing your hair?” Luz asked with a smirk as she looked at her sister knowingly. Boscha only grunted in response, they both knew the god of storms was more than capable of washing her own blood-red locks. She just liked the feeling of Willow's fingers sliding through them.

“Keep it up and I won't give you the Yggdrasil sap I brought you to heal your jarl’s leg.” Boscha narrowed her eyes at her younger sister.

“You got sap?” Luz immediately perked up at that. Sap from the world tree had many purposeful uses, one of them was its ability to close up any wound near-instantly, but getting to the roots or branches of the tree was no easy task and was often restricted by their father and the frost giants of Jotunheim that attacked them on sight. It made sense that only Boscha, who served as the main form of protection against the frost giants both for Asgard and Midgard, could have braved the branches of the world tree for sap for her. 

"Aw, you do care!" Luz moved to wrap her sister in a hug despite her state of undress and dampness. Boscha just sighed as Luz wrapped her arms around her shoulders and squeezed, pressing her face against hers.

"Would you just let me have a damn bath?!" the god of storms growled when her sister finally let her go. "The sap’s over there in the pouch on my belt." She pointed to her pile of clothes on the floor. 

Luz quickly moved over and started digging through her sister's things before coming back with a small, thick glass vial filled with a bright amber liquid. 

Willow moved out of her way as Luz came over and removed the stopper from the vial and poured a single drop of the viscous liquid onto the wound.

It tingled on Amity's skin and she watched, fascinated as slowly, her skin began to knit back together before her eyes. 

Amity reached down and ran her hand up and down her leg experimentally, not a trace was left of her wound, only a pale pink scar that traveled the width of her leg.

"Amazing," Willow mumbled.

Once her leg was healed Luz handed the vial to the herbalist.

"You would definitely make better use of this than either of us," she told her as Willow took it, nodding.

Amity stood, testing the weight on her leg and found it just as normal as ever and smiled to herself before she turned to the god, sunk up to her collar in the barrel of hot water.

"Thank you, Boscha," she thanked her and the god grunted.

"Shame you didn't have that before we left," Luz said and her sister snorted.

"I've had it for days," she said with a grin. Willow was also carefully hiding the quirking of her lips as she turned away from them.

"What?! Then why didn't you give it to us before we left?" Luz threw up a hand.

"Are you saying you didn't enjoy carrying her up the mountain?" The god retorted and Luz colored at that. “Speaking of…!” Boscha leaned forward, laying her arms across the lip of the barrel and setting her chin on her them as stormy blue-gray eyes trail back and forth between the two of them. “How'd it go?” Her question was answered for her by Amity, whose hand automatically reached up to press over the medallion hidden beneath her tunic, making the god only grin harder, especially as Willow moved back to her previous place behind her running a carved bone comb through her hair.

"It went very well." Luz grinned proudly and wrapped an arm around Amity’s waist tugging her in close, much to the jarl's amusement. “You are looking at my betrothed,” she said happily.

“That’s wonderful!” Willow smiled at the two of them as she worked the comb through Boscha's long, red hair. 

“Finally!” Boscha said, throwing up a hand as she leaned back in the barrel. Willow smacked the back of her head with the comb, making her grunt.

“You were thinking it too…,” she grumbled, Willow said nothing to deny it, but carefully kept her silence. 

Amity smiled as she clutched the medallion beneath her tunic, feeling its warmth as she looked up to say something to the god of storms when she noticed something. 

With the gods' furs and tunic laying in a pile on the floor, the jarl could very clearly see the exposed skin of her chest and collar.

"You have a medallion too, don't you?" Amity asked curiously and immediately both the herbalist and the god of storms grew still.

Luz blinked, turning away from Amity to look at her sister's bare neck.

"Hey, where is your medallion?" she asked.

"I lost it,” the god of storms said with a shrug.

"After having it for thousands of years, you suddenly lost it?" Luz asked, crossing her arms and cocking her hip.

"Yes…" the god said, crossing her own arms and glaring right back.

Amity walked over and quickly jerked down the collar of Willow's tunic, revealing the gold medallion with the storm god's famous hammer engraved on it hanging from her neck.

Luz's jaw dropped open when she saw it.

"I found it," Amity said with a deadpan expression as she turned to look at Boscha.

"When did this happen?" Luz shouted. "Did you ask her while we were gone!?" Luz asked.

"No, no, I didn't ask her while you two were gone. I wouldn't do that to you, Luz," Boscha quickly said, holding up a hand.

"Then when…" Amity turned to her closest friend. 

"About a month ago…," the herbalist said, reaching up to finger her own medallion.

"The day before you told me that you were going to offer yours back to Amity," Boscha jumped in, looking at her sister.

"Why didn't you say anything?!" The god of light asked and the couple shared a look.

"After everything you two have been through we didn't want you to delay asking Amity because of us," Willow said.

Amity and Luz shared a look and seemed to come to a similar understanding.

"Well that doesn't work for us," Amity said finally.

"Yeah, we should be a month into planning your wedding already!" Luz insisted and the two blinked at them, briefly glancing at each other before turning back to Luz and Amity.

“What about your…,” Willow started.

“We will wait,” the jarl insisted and Luz nodded in agreement.

Boscha looked at Willow, as she glanced back at the god of storms, she could see that Willow wanted to do this, they had been waiting for their friend and sibling but the two were just as eager for them to move ahead in their plans as they were, and Boscha wouldn’t deny her Flower anything; if Willow was ready, so was she. 

“Alright, you and I need to make a trip home and make the announcement, or mother will murder us both.” Boscha turned to her sister. 

“Right now?” Luz blinked.

“No, not right now, get out and let me finish my bath!” she pointed at the door and Willow snorted as the two quickly retreated from the house, Luz laughing and Amity shaking her head.

“Honestly…,” Boscha huffed and Willow just rolled her eyes, leaning over and pressing a kiss to her cheek, making the god smirk. 

[](https://ibb.co/0MtXdP9)

~ ~ 

It took three days for them to send word that the two of them had an announcement to make and gather up their wayward siblings and relatives.

Or rather it took three days after they told their mother that they had an announcement to make for her to gather them all up.

She questioned them both extensively, but neither was willing to say exactly what their announcement was about. They could tell that did not please her, but she let them have it and went about collecting the scattered gods.

“So, on a scale of one to ten, how well do you think this is going to go? One being you’re murdered or ten being they love them,” Luz asked her sister as they walked down the long golden halls.

“The part I mostly focused on there was how you said 'you're’ murdered, not 'we're’ murdered.” The taller god glanced at her sister out of the corner of her eye.

“Well, I can’t be murdered…,” she laughed. "But I'll make sure your funeral pyre is big.” Luz grinned, giving her sister a nudge, she snorted at that. 

"Lucky me," she grumbled as they entered the main hall.

"Boscha, Luz, Ha!" A loud high pitched voice called out from across the hall making both women wince.

"Hooty…," they both said as they looked up to find their eldest sibling quickly making his way to them, Gus hanging from the god’s back and King trailing along behind at his own leisurely pace.

Boscha quickly sidestepped as the god of war went to wrap his arms around them, catching just Luz in his crushing grip.

"I missed you, sisters!" He grinned maniacally as he swung the youngest of the divine siblings around in his grip.

"Missed you too, Hooty," Luz wheezed, patting one of his rock-solid, muscular arms.

He finally released the god of light, who took a staggering breath as King sat beside her, snickering to himself.

"So? What's this big announcement you two wanted to make?" Gus asked, looking down at them from their eldest brother's shoulders.

"Not yet, " Luz shook her head. "Mami isn't here yet." 

"Neither is father," Boscha said, looking around for the king of the Aesir, but only spotting the rest of their far-flung family and peers. "Looks like mother got everyone…," the god of war hummed.

"Just about, but father won't be one of them," King grunted, scratching behind one of his ears with his back foot. "He had to go down to Midgard and talk to that woman, the oracle you like so much," he turned to his twin whose mouth opened in a silent 'o'.

"Eda" Luz nodded. That made sense. Their father had some kind of history with the oracle sisters that none of the five had even been able to guess at.

"Mother should be back any second, though." Gus maneuvered himself so he was sitting on Hooty's shoulder, staff in hand.

Luz glanced around, she hadn't seen some of those in attendance in a while, either distant members of her family from the Vanir side or simply those she didn't usually associate with.

Speaking of...

Across the room standing tall, even among the other gods but standing out for the golden mask he wore, was her nephew, Hel. Belos, to them.

He was easy to spot not simply because of his gold mask with the horns, but he wore a tunic of white, hemmed with gold, a bright spot among the Aesir, especially for the god of death. His blue eyes glowed from within the confines of his mask as he moved about the room, speaking briefly to a few of the Vanir in attendance.

Boscha seemed to notice where she was looking and quickly set a firm hand on her shoulder. 

"I know, I'm not any happier with what his adherents have been doing lately than you are, but we both know that we don't control them, the mortals do as they please, we can only influence our champions," the storm god reminded. Amity wasn't the only one having to deal with the war that seemed to be amping up every day across the Boiling Isles.

Willow was the most well known and talented herbalist on the southern isle. The sick and wounded warriors of all the nearby villages came to her for plants or treatment, and there were more and more of them every day as the fields of the Isles were overrun by the Glandis invaders from the eastern island, all adherents of her nephew.

Gus happened to look up and see what they were looking at and sighed giving his sisters’ a shrug.

"I tried to talk to him, but we don't exactly have a real familial bond…," Gus trailed off. 

"It's alright, Gus," Luz assured her elder brother. "We'll figure something out… I may step in regardless…" Luz said and all her siblings looked at her with wide eyes. 

"You realize if you do that things could get really ugly really quick, right?" Gus asked his sister. His son may have not been actively sending his adherence to attack the southern isle, but he would most certainly strike back if Luz did something to them.

"It would make father angry…Ha," Hooty mumbled, looking nervous at the prospect. 

"I know… I said 'may' I haven't decided anything yet." Luz crossed her arms. She was tired of Amity always being injured or exhausted from the near-constant warfare that had begun to push its way further and further inland. Before they had been fighting them at their ships on the beach, but now they had moved into the woods.

"That would turn into a huge mess," King grumbled to himself.

"We'll deal with it later," Boscha declared, effectively ending the conversation, for now.

Their mother chose that moment to appear in the hall and made her way straight to them.

"Well, girls. Everyone is here, except your father who sends his apologies, and we're all waiting to hear your news." She looked between the two of them questioningly.

Boscha glanced around, noticing the two of them now had the entirety of the attention of the hall on them.

Boscha nodded and took two steps to the nearest table and climbed up on it, jerking Luz up with her.

"Whoa, hey!" The light god yelped as her sister hauled her into the air and set her down on the table beside her so that the two of them stood above the crowd.

Boscha had never been one for pomp and ceremony so it was best to just say it and be done with it in her opinion, which was the only one that really mattered... outside her betrothed.

"Luz and I have given away our medallions and are betrothed!" She announced and there was a long moment of silence before Gus couldn't help himself.

"To each other?" He asked, trying to hide his shit-eating grin. Lightning was quick to jump to life, crackling across the gods' arms and Luz made a face.

"No, not to each other, to two mortals you idiot!" She yelled at her grinning little brother.

At that declaration, the room broke out into raucous cheers and calls for the two deities, and like most celebrating in Asgard, drink immediately began to be passed around as their relatives crowded around them to offer their congratulations.

The two, or at least Luz, patiently thanked them all in turn until the crowd thinned out, leaving just their siblings and mother.

"So you've been involved with a mortal as well, how long has that been going on?" Camila looked at Boscha, who crossed her arms and nodded, but didn't offer much else, cheeks pinking, which made Camila look at her eldest daughter interestingly.

"Three years and her name is Willow," Luz helpfully supplied, ignoring the look her sister was now giving her. "She's the herbalist in Boneshaven and Amity's closest friend."

"I see, and I suppose that means you gave your medallion back to the jarl?" Camila turned fully to her youngest and Luz nodded.

Her mother was still on the fence about Amity because of the things that had gone on between the two of them over a year ago. Her mother was very protective, but that was all well and good behind them, and had been her own fault to start with.

"Mami, she loves me and I love her and nothing can change that," she said firmly, and the elder god looked at her for a long, hard moment. None of her siblings moved, save Hooty who was looking around at everything with interest.

Camila finally sighed.

"Alright, perhaps I judged her too quickly before, especially if you love her so much," she finally said. "So for now, I'll reserve judgment, on both of them," she glanced back up at Boscha, who frowned, but said nothing to the contrary. "I look forward to meeting Willow." Camila smiled before she turned and walked off.

Luz quickly turned and speed-walked away before her sister could turn on her, she hadn't intended to tell their mother anything until the day of their marriage.

She snickered to herself as she made her way over to get a drink.

After all that she could use some mead.

She had just started to take a drink when she felt a presence behind her.

"I suppose I should be offering you my congratulations."

She turned to find Belos standing behind her, his bright blue eyes glowing from within the confines of his mask.

"Ah, thank you." She nodded at him. She had never exactly been close to Gus's youngest child. He was the reclusive type, who like his father often did things in a backhanded, sneaky way. He was incredibly clever, though preferred to use it for his own gain. 

"I've heard that your new betrothed is the warrior that began dedicating their victories in battle to you five years ago, that you made your champion."

"Jarl Amity of Boneshaven, yes. I made her my champion three years ago." Luz nodded as she looked up at the god of death. 

"She's amassed quite the following for you since then, hasn't she? Your powers have grown significantly in such a short period," he hummed, his voice echoing out of his mask with a tinny quality.

"I guess, I haven't paid too much attention to it." She shrugged and he chuckled lowly.

"Aw, come now. As I recall, just the winter before last you used your power to burn away an entire blizzard that had settled over the southern portion of Midgard." He tapped a finger to his mask covered chin.

"You heard about that?" Luz asked and he nodded.

"Indeed, blinded nearly everyone in all nine realms for but a moment. An impressive display to be sure," he said.

"Well, it was only to keep her safe, we were caught in that blizzard," Luz said. "But speaking of safety...," she turned fully to face him. "Your adherents from the east in the Boiling Isles have been attacking the southern isle, where my champion lives, pretty frequently lately…," she started and Belos held up a hand, stopping her.

"I'm sure I already know what it is you're going to say, the same thing my father wanted to talk about, but as I'm sure you know, I do not control my mortal adherents. What they decide to do is entirely up to them, just as your champion chose to exalt you long before you ever met," he explained, and Luz can't help but bristle a little at the almost exasperated way that he explained it to her, as though she were a child and not his much older aunt.

"I'm aware," she bit out. "But you could…," she began, but before she could even get out the biting retort he cut her off.

"And I would think if you were truly worried about your champion’s safety that you wouldn't have been so quick to involve her in the politics and affairs of those so far above her by binding her to yourself," he said with a lilt to his voice that Luz couldn’t begin to describe, almost smug, but something else.

She grit her teeth, trying not to say anything here in the middle of Valhalla that would come back to bite her in the ass when her father got word of it, technically nothing he was saying was untrue, nor intentionally provoking.

As he looked down at her she could see behind the darkness of his mask, the way his glowing blue irises changed shape, and she could tell beneath the golden metal he was smiling.

"Regardless of any lapses in judgment, I wish you my deepest and most heartfelt congratulations, dear aunt." He tipped his head before he walked away, his white and gold-lined cloak fluttering being him as he navigated through the crowd.

Luz clenched her fists as she watched him go. It was no wonder he and Gus didn't exactly have a close relationship. The god of mischief was at least friendly and jovial. 

She huffed and turned only to run smack dab into Boscha, who glanced at her before looking back up at the retreating god of death's back.

"How much of that did you hear?" Luz asked her.

"Enough," the god of storms said. "Needless to say we won’t be getting any help from him, which I figured even before Gus tried to talk to him. He’s too embroiled in all the power politics around here, he wouldn't have any interest in helping you protect your champion, especially one that's made you quite powerful over the last couple of years," Boscha crossed her arms.

Luz hummed as she looked around the room at all the heavy drinking Aesir.

"We've been here long enough, I'm heading back to Boneshaven, Amity should be done with her patrols by now,” Luz said and turned toward the exit to the great hall. Boscha nodded and followed her out, eager to return to Willow.

~ ~  
With it being the middle of summer, and no one needing to travel across the icy sea, it only took them two weeks to plan for the week-long wedding that tradition demanded. Willow was well known among all the villages along the southern coast and most of the warriors from them would be in attendance to honor their favorite healer and her betrothed, bringing them gifts of hides, furs, and the couples’ favorite thing: mead.

It was the day before the festivities and Amity found herself patrolling the perimeter of the village. Things had been fairly quiet the last two weeks, though she still had to go and quell at least one raid on a nearby village.

Luz had been gone the last two days, along with Boscha, getting who knew what together in Asgard. Both she and Willow had been missing the Asgardians. The village was almost disquietly silent without the two making some sort of mess, ruckus, or the rest of the divine siblings running around her village, either Hooty wanting to fight her or Gus stirring up her siblings, who had been unsurprisingly sweet and excited when she had told them of her betrothal to Luz.

She would be eternally grateful for the two of them.

The sound of running feet in the forest to her right made her stop, but she didn't reach for her ax. She recognized the sound and waited.

Sure enough, a few seconds later Otabin came bursting out of the trees with a bundle of green leaves and white berries in his mouth.

Another bundle of mistletoe.

"Good boy, Otabin," Amity praised the great white beast by ruffling the fur around his jowls. His tail swung back and forth happily as she took the bundle of leaves from his mouth but stopped when she felt a prickle at the edge of her senses and the hairs on the back of her neck stood on end. She slowly stood, looking around the surrounding forest.

Perhaps sensing her tense mood Otabin also stood, tail raised and ears pricked forward, listening, but after a few moments the feeling faded and she relaxed.

"It's alright…" she scratched the waist-high beast’s head. "Come," she called as they walked the rest of the way to the village gates and she tossed the poisonous plant into one of the torches that lined the entryway.

She stood and watched as it turned to ashes in the crackling fire for several minutes, making sure it had all burned away before she moved to head inside.

"Amity!" A familiar voice called at her back and her heart jumped in her chest at the sound before she whipped around to find the grinning god of light coming up the path.

"Luz!" She broke out into a wide smile and only took a single step before Otabin was running toward her.

"Whoa, whoa, boy!" Luz shouted as the wolf slammed into her, paws on her shoulders and tail wagging faster than one could see as he tried to lick the god's face.

"No, no!" Luz managed to stretch her neck back far enough to avoid the war beast's tongue.

"Otabin!" Came the sharp call and the wolf immediately retreated sitting on his haunches and looking up at her, tongue lolling out the side of his mouth and tail still wagging as his master took his place, throwing herself into Luz's open arms.

The god grinned, wrapping her arms around her tightly.

"Did you miss me, my light?" she laughed, but not for long before Amity's arms around her neck squeezed, pulling her down enough to lay a searing kiss across her mouth that Luz was all too happy to reciprocate, humming happily against Amity's lips.

"I always miss you," Amity breathed when she finally saw fit to loose her hold on the god’s mouth. 

Luz grinned, pressing her forehead against Amity's, content to hold her close for a minute before going into the village, where everything had been speeding ahead for the last four days with no signs of stopping till after the wedding ended. Amity relaxed against Luz's tall frame, letting her hold her. She always felt safest and most at home in Luz's arms.

Then she felt something again, that feeling of being watched that had been plaguing her off and on for some time now, but she wasn't alone this time.

Luz shot straight up, eyes flickering around them; she obviously felt it too.

They both jumped when the sound of footsteps on the path made them both turn and Luz's eyes widened.

"Mami!" Luz called, releasing her two armed stranglehold on her betrothed' to face her mother, but left one arm wrapped protectively around Amity's waist.

"I decided to come a day early to meet this 'Willow' that has so thoroughly tamed your sister," she said with a smile, which made Luz grin and Amity couldn't help but snort at that, drawing the elder god’s attention to her.

"Jarl Amity," the queen of the gods addressed her, to her surprise. The last and only time they had met so far the elder god had only referred to her as 'mortal'.

"C-Camila?" Amity tipped her head, unsure how she should address the matriarch of the Aesir. Luckily for her, she only nodded in response.

"I think Willow was at home," She looked up at Luz who nodded.

"Come on, Mami, I'll show you the way." She finally let go of Amity and turned to walk through the village gate.

Camilla followed her youngest through the gate, glancing out the corner of her eye at Amity as she passed.

Amity knew that look well, she'd seen it on the face of her own mother more than a time or two.

Careful, considering judgment.

Amity frowned to herself as she followed the two deities into the village to Willow's house. Camila still didn’t like her, or at the very least wasn’t sure of her, that much was obvious. It would probably be better to get out of dodge while she was here to meet Willow, which would be a good distraction for the jarl.

Amity walked quickly to rejoin Luz at her side. 

"I trust you can handle this?" Amity asked her, nodding surreptitiously to her mother over her shoulder and Luz blinked.

"Are you leaving?" Luz frowned, she'd only just gotten back, she was not keen to let her love leave her side so soon.

"I have some things that need to be taken care of before tomorrow." Not necessarily a lie, she did have some things to see to, how important they were was a matter of opinion.

Luz frowned but nodded.

"Right, I'll see you later then?" Luz asked with a hopeful lilt and Amity smiled at her.

"Of course you will." She leaned up on her toes to press a kiss to Luz's cheek, making her smile again.

Amity nodded to Camila politely before quickly making her escape.

The moment she was gone Luz frowned again for a moment. Camila could see the disappointment at Amity's leaving. The god hummed to herself as they continued toward the edge of the village and a house Luz knew well.

"This is Willow's house,” Luz said and knocked on the door. It only took a moment before it swung open to reveal the village herbalist looking up at her.

"Luz, you're back! Is Boscha with you?" She glanced around and didn't see her monstrously tall betrothed, but instead, a woman not much taller than her standing right behind the god of light.

"No, she had a couple more things she needed to do. She shouldn't be too far behind me, but someone else would like to meet you." She stepped aside and her mother stepped forward. "This is our mother, Camila,” Luz introduced.

"Oh! It's a pleasure, please come in." She stepped aside to allow the two Aesir to enter.

"Amity's not with you?" Willow glanced at Luz, who frowned.

"She had some things to finish before tomorrow." She shrugged as they moved inside.

Camila glanced around at the litany of plants and jars of various pastes and herbs around the woman's home.

Of all the people she would have guessed could someday capture her eldest daughter's heart, a soft handed healer would not have been the matriarch’s first guess.

Not for someone like Boscha, who could drink an entire barrel of mead by herself and then get into a bare-fisted brawl with no less than eight armed men.

"Please sit," Willow offered and Camila sat herself in the chair across from Willow as Luz plopped herself onto the herbalist's bed. She tried to ignore the look her mother was giving her from the corner of her eye but at least straightened herself up on the bed, making Willow huff a laugh under her breath. 

"You're the village herbalist?" Camila asked and Willow nodded.

"I am, I take care of most of the warriors on this side of the island," She said.

"You patch hot-head up a lot too," Luz added with a grin as she referred to her elder sister. Which made both women at the table roll their eyes at the truth in that.

From there the conversation seemed to flow very easily as Camila asked the mortal about her plants and time spent with the decidedly hot-headed god of thunder and storms, with Luz throwing in her own occasional bit, but she was distracted, thinking of Amity.

"How did you meet my daughter?" Camila asked and she wasn't sure what answer she expected, but "I beat her in a drinking contest" hadn't been it.

"A drinking contest?" Camila repeated, looking at the small, even by mortal standards, woman and had a hard time reconciling it with what she said.

"Willow's tough," Luz smirked, and before anyone could say anything the front door slammed open and the towering god of strength stomped in, scowling deeply and lightning rippling across her form.

"Hooty is a damned, dumb-" she was snarling and before Camila could scold her eldest daughter another voice was barking through the air.

"No lightning in the house!" Willow barked, standing from the table and glaring at Boscha, who froze.

The lightning immediately fizzled out and her shoulders dropped as she grumbled something under her breath. It sounded suspiciously like an apology.

Willow quickly rounded the table toward her and without prompting the much taller god leaned down to accept a kiss from the mortal.

Luz watched the display with a small smile and her chest ached a little. She knew Amity had things to do, but nothing that probably couldn't have been put off for a little while. She was avoiding her mother; not that she could blame her.

“Mother, I expected you… sooner, actually,” Boscha mumbled and Camila shot her a look.

“I decided I’d like to meet her before you actually get married, since none of you tell me anything anymore,” she huffed, looking between Boscha and Luz. The former just grunted and the latter smiled sheepishly. “I’ll be honest, Boscha,” Camila started, standing from the table. "I was surprised to hear about the betrothal between you two when you announced it," Camila said as she looked between the three, "I’m still not sure I understand," she admitted.

"Yes, well," Boscha shrugged. "You don't need to understand, Mother, I love her," she grunted and Willow looked up at her with wide eyes.

Sure, the god would whisper it to her late at night when they were laying in bed, arms wrapped around her, or when they were completely alone in the woods while she looked for plants, but she'd never said it in front of other people before. 

Willow hesitated before reaching out to grab the red-headed warrior's hand. Boscha looked at her and squeezed the smaller hand in hers.

“Well, I suppose that’s all there is to it then.” The elder god nodded as she moved toward the door. “I need to be returning to Asgard, but it was good to meet the storm conqueror at last,” Camila said with a straight face as she moved through the door.

Boscha’s face turned bright red as Luz choked on her laughter behind her hands.

“Come, Luz. Walk me to the gates, dear,” their mother called and Luz snickered as she trotted past the steaming red-haired and faced god. She caught up to her mother as they walked toward the gate. The levity quickly faded.

Luz was bothered.

Her mother doesn’t understand, but she seemed to like Willow well enough, and while she’d been polite, she’d still been rather cold to Amity when she arrived.

She’s learned the easiest way is to just be direct with her mother. 

“I don’t understand, Amity and I have long put the past behind us, why can’t you? You said you’d try.” Luz frowned and Camila sighed.

“I am, Luz, but it’s hard for me to look past all the hurt she put you through, Your brothers’ told me how she refused to see or talk to you during that mess.” 

“I’m the one who hurt her,” Luz insisted with a frown. She’d long ago taken responsibility for her actions and she wouldn't let anyone, not even her mother, place the blame for what had happened on Amity.

“You hurt her… but that doesn’t mean you weren’t also hurt,” Camila said firmly and Luz can’t deny that, but her mother is forgetting something important.

“My pain was my own fault,” she asserted with a scowl. “I lied to her, pretended to be something I wasn’t, tricked her. I was hurt, but it was my own fault, not Amity’s.” she could feel herself glaring down at her mother, but this subject always dug painfully under her skin, especially when it was King, or someone else trying to say that Amity had hurt her. No, she had hurt herself by not being honest with Amity.

Her mother was peering up at her with an unreadable expression before she sighed.

“You told her…” 

Luz blinked at that.

“Told her… what?” she cocked her head and her mother sighed again, but heavier. 

“I saw her, her wolf seeks it out and she burns it,” Camila said cryptically, not saying what she saw and realization struck Luz light lightning. 

Mistletoe.

She’d seen Amity do that before. She often cleared away the plant from around the village. She didn’t know Luz had been watching, but she did.

It always made something soft and warm curl tightly around her heart when she happened to catch the jarl doing it. 

“Yes, I did.” she nodded. 

“Luz…,” her mother started, exasperated, but Luz wasn’t going to hear it, not about this.

“I trust her with my life,” she said with such stony conviction that it made Camila pause and look up at her. “If she wanted to end it, I’d let her, I gave her that power to prove I trust her. Amity would never intentionally hurt me,” Luz decreed.

“Hurt is often not intentional, Luz.” Camila frowned and Luz’s frown only deepened, but she could tell Luz would not hear anymore of this; she had some of her father in her after all. “Alright…,” Camila nodded. “I trust your judgment… but for now, I will continue to reserve my own judgment until the day the two of you are wed,” the elder god declared and Luz didn’t like it, but she was not going to get any better than that. As the baby, her mother had always been overly protective of her and the fact that Luz had vanished for months where no one could find her while she wallowed in despair over Amity had not endeared the jarl to the matriarch. 

She couldn’t imagine the situation if she had known about what Luz had been considering during that time. 

“Alright,” she nodded.

“I have to return to Asgard for now, but I will see you and… Amity, tomorrow.” The god leaned up pressed a kiss to her youngest’s cheek before turning and disappearing into the forest outside Boneshaven. 

The moment she disappeared from sight, Luz turned and darted back into the village, heading straight for Amity's house. Otabin was lying in the grass outside soaking up the sun, so Luz knew that the jarl was inside. When she walked in she spotted her green-haired betrothed sitting on the end of her bed, sharpening her ax.

She looked up as soon as the door opened and smiled at Luz.

"Everything go okay?" she asked as the god walked over and crawled onto the bed, maneuvering herself so that Amity was situated between her legs and she dropped her chin onto Amity's shoulder as she wrapped her arms around her waist.

"It was fine, I think she liked Willow…," Luz hummed.

"Still hates me though…," Amity mumbled.

"She doesn't hate you... she's just wary of you…, no matter how many times I explain that my pain was my own fault…," Luz grumbled and Amity sighed, setting her ax aside and leaning back into Luz, who gave her a squeeze. "It doesn't matter what my mother thinks, all that matters to me is how you feel," she said and Amity nodded after a moment.

"You and I have put all that behind us, and that's all that matters," Amity said, turning her head to nestle her face into the junction between her neck and shoulder.

Luz gave her a squeeze, turning her head just enough to press her lips against Amity's forehead.

"That's all that matters," She nodded in agreement, and decided that this has been much too serious and she had missed Amity over the last two days.

So without warning, she tightened her hold and shot backward, her back hitting the bed as she pulled the shrieking jarl back right along with her, making Luz laugh.

"You are the worst, sometimes!" Amity squirmed in the light god's hold, but a grin had worked its way onto her lips as she managed to turn over so the two were now lying chest to chest.

"Maybe, but I'll be the worst, just for you, for all the rest of your mortal life and for the rest of your eternal one in Asgard." She grinned up at Amity, who was smiling back at her as she wrapped her arms around Luz's neck.

"That sounds perfect," she mumbled before leaning down to capture the smiling god's lips in a long heated kiss.

Tomorrow would be all about the god of storms and the village herbalist, but this moment here and now, they would carve this moment out just for themselves, forgetting all about their siblings and any and all other problems.

Right now, they didn't need anything but to be together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy New Years Eve!  
> May the coming year be better then the one were leaving!


	19. Chapter 19

Luz sat atop the village gates, kicking her legs back and forth as she watched people slowly arrive for the next week of activities that would be taking place inside the village.

People from the other villages along the coast began arriving first thing at sun up, toting, to no one's surprise, more mead than Luz could ever remember seeing in one place in all her life, and that was quite the long time.

She'd never known anyone who could match Boscha drink for drink before Willow, let alone out drink her, and she was sure no one else ever would.

She didn't think she would ever understand Willow and her sister's relationship. Despite its odd ups and downs, the two seemed quite happy together and that was more than good enough for Luz. Willow was good for her sister. 

"You don't have anything better to do than watch people arrive?"

She looked up as Boscha hauled herself up onto the stones to settle beside her. Luz just shrugged.

"Everything is pretty much-taken care of, Amity is off threatening her siblings to behave, and then she has to get dressed. Where's Willow?" she asked, leaning back on her hands to look at Boscha. The god is already dressed in her formal clothes.

A tunic of deep crimson hemmed with gold embroidery of intricate knotwork circled every edge of the blood-red cloth at her waist, neck, and wrists and hung down to her thighs over black knit trousers tucked into her thick leather boots. A mantle of thick black fur held by a silver metal clasp was sewn into a dark forest green cloak that hung off her shoulders and her red locks were pulled back in a tightly plaited ponytail, save the two long strands that framed her face.

“She’s getting dressed,” Boscha said, making herself comfortable next to her sister, sweeping the cloak out of the way.

“You look nice,” Luz said and Boscha sat up a little straighter, chin cocked up. 

“I know,” she smirked and Luz rolled her eyes. “If ever I was going to dress for anything other than battle it would be my wedding don’t you think?” she asked, making Luz snort.

“Apparently,” the younger god snorted.

"Is that what you're wearing?" Boscha cocked a brow at her sister's usual attire, dirtied from playing with the village children that morning.

"No!" Luz scowled. "I'm going to go take a bath and change. She said with a huff and Boscha smirked.

"I haven't seen anyone from Asgard yet…," she trailed off, looking around at the constant, but a slow trickle of people moving into the village.

"Well, other than mother and maybe our brothers, you probably won't. They don't really consider this Willow's and I’s wedding. Not till her mortal life ends and she comes to Asgard where we'll be married the Aesir way. Till then, I suppose you could call this a temporary arrangement." Boscha grunted and Luz's brow scrunched up.

"Then why are you doing it?" She turned to look at her sister and the god shrugged.

"It's what Willow wants," Was the simple answer. Luz pursed her lips, considering her next question.

"Why Willow?" she asked and could immediately tell that the way she worded this question annoyed her sister if the way she glared at her was any indication. "I don't mean that in a bad way, Willow's great! She's a good friend to me and Amity!… I've just never really pegged a soft-spoken herbalist like Willow as your type…," she trailed off and Boscha barked a laugh at that.

"My flower has thorns, you oughta know that." The elder god grinned at her.

"I mean… yeah," she laughed. "But… why do you love her?" Luz asked and was fascinated by the contemplative look that swept over her sister's face. Contrary to popular belief, the god of strength was smart, as brilliant a tactician as a fighter, when she had to be that was. So to see her so deliberately considering something always surprised Luz. 

"Why do you love Amity?" the god of thunder asked instead after a long moment.

"I…," Luz started, unsure how that answered anything, but it also wasn't an easy question to answer. There were a lot of things she adored about the jarl. The way she laughed, snickering under her breath, even snorting when she found something especially funny. The way she ran her fingers through Luz's hair when they laid in bed, quietly wrapped up in each other, her willpower and determination to protect not only the people of the Boneshaven but those of the other villages along the southern coast with a fierceness Luz had only ever seen in other gods. Everything about her made Luz feel warm and loved and happy, and that's the only thing she could really say.

"She makes me happy." The light god gave a shrug and Boscha nodded.

"Willow makes me happy," Is her own reply, and Luz nodded. she supposed that in the end that was all that mattered. She didn’t think Boscha would ever truly elaborate further than that anyway.

"I should probably go and bathe before Amity…," Luz started only for a loud, familiar, high-pitched voice to call out to her.

"Luz, Boscha!"

They both looked up to see Hooty, dressed as he usually was, pants, boots, and bare-chested save the dark brown cloak hanging from his shoulders as he walked up the path toward the gates with a barrel of Asgardian mead under each arm and her other two-legged brother riding atop his shoulders, staff in hand.

At least Gus had dressed for the occasion in his sky blue, calf-length coat over a black tunic, staff in hand as he waved it at them.

"Hey!"

The two climbed down off the gate to stand in front of their brothers.

"I can’t believe you’re coming to my wedding dressed...or not dressed, like that," the god of thunder frowned, crossing her arms as Gus hopped off their older brother’s shoulders. 

“I tried,” the lord of mischief shrugged. “He kept busting out of the sleeves...”

“I brought mead!” The god of war exclaimed, grinning.

“So we see,” Boscha grunted.

“There would have been more if he could have carried more.” Gus shrugged. “This should be enough for you and your bride, at least, for tonight,” Gus chuckled, which made Boscha grin.

Luz shook her head at them

"Amity’s probably waiting for me… I'm going to go bathe…," Luz mumbled, walking back inside the village gates, heading for Amity's house, and leaving Boscha to deal with their brothers

"Speaking of the jarl, I think I might go find the twins…," Gus said with a wicked grin and before Boscha could grab him, the eyes of the snake perched atop his staff began to glow and he vanished, leaving the growling god of storms standing there with their eldest brother and the two large barrels of Asgardian mead.

“Augustus… I swear if something gets set on fire and you upset my flower, I'll wring your little neck,” she seethed to herself before turning back to Hooty. “Come on, I’ll show you where to put those,” she grumbled, turning and stomping back inside the village as the air around her crackled with electricity; Hooty followed along behind her. 

“Where is the champion? I want to fight! Ha ha.” He asked and Boscha sighed. 

Luz was quick to head up the hill to Amity's house. The longhouse was empty save the large barrel of water sitting over the coals of the firepit.

Amity had readied her bath for her and Luz smiled at that as she quickly stripped down and climbed in, trying not to slosh too much water around and douse the coals. It felt, as most things did to her, just pleasantly perfect. It could have been ice water and she wouldn't have really known the difference, but it made her insides feel warm and tingly that Amity went through the trouble of warming the water for her even though she didn't have to. 

She hummed to herself, sinking down to her nose in the water. she didn't think it was possible to love someone as much as she loved Amity.

It was only about twenty minutes later when the longhouse door opened and Amity stepped in, followed by Otabin.

Amity had already bathed if she had to guess by her slightly still damp looking hair and dressed in her formal wear. Black trousers tucked into her normal leather boots but instead of her usual magenta-colored tunic she wore one of pale white, the hems of the sleeves embroidered with black knotwork and the V-shaped neck hung just low enough to allow one to see the gold medallion bearing the sigil of light that hung from her neck. It was much simpler than Boscha's but no less elegant. At least Luz thought so, but the god loved Amity in anything or nothing. A thought she would keep to herself for now.

"You're back I see." Amity smiled when she saw her. She walked over quickly and leaned down, pressing a quick kiss to Luz's lips.

"Yeah, I was talking to Boscha and watching people arrive," she said.

Amity hummed as she moved away to dig through a large trunk in the corner.

"There's a lot." Amity nodded as Luz climbed out of the barrel and started drying herself off.

"Did you see how much mead there was?" Luz laughed, shaking the water out of her hair.

"I expected that the minute we found out they were engaged," Amity laughed, glancing at Luz over her shoulder.

"No one can drink quite like those two," the god agreed as she picked up her black knit trousers and pulled them on, making Otabin scoot over so she could sit on the bed and pull on her boots and wrap the ties around them.

"This is what you're wearing, right?"

Luz looked up to see Amity holding up her calf-length, violet tunic with white hemming.

"Yup,” she stood and pulled on the plain, thin, white under tunic before taking the violet overtunic from Amity and quickly securing the thread loops over the ivory buttons on the other side before wrapping the leather belts around her waist.

"How do I look?" She asked, holding out her arms. Amity hummed, running her fingers through Luz’s damp hair, smoothing it back.

“Not bad,” she said. “But I think you’re missing something." She smiled. 

Luz looked down at herself, looking thoughtful before she looked back up at Amity.

"What?"

Instead of answering Amity turned and walked back over to the trunk she had been digging through earlier and pulled out something fluffy and black before turning and making her way back to Luz. 

"Here." She reached around the god's back and set it on her shoulders, securing it in place to hang halfway over her chest and the very tops of her biceps.

Luz reached up and fingered the material. It was fur, thick, black and soft to the touch with a gold pin engraved with the sigil of Odin, the tri horns, holding it closed atop the right side of her chest.

"Ohhh," Luz said with quiet awe. "What's this for?" She looked back up at Amity.

"I guess we could call it a wedding gift… from me to you," she clarified. "Your old one I had made from the boar is almost in tatters now… even though I know you don't need it to keep warm… and since we're putting off our own wedding for a time, I thought I might give you this today…," she said, looking oddly shy. 

Luz smiled and reached up to cup Amity’s cheeks between her hands before leaning down to press a firm, heartfelt kiss to her lips. Amity hummed against her, threading her fingers into the thick fur covering her shoulders. Slowly she released her, wrapping her arms around the jarl’s back.

“I love it… I love you,” she said quietly, nuzzling her face against Amity’s, who just smiled brightly. 

“I’m glad… for both,” she hummed, squeezing Luz close to her. 

“Actually…,” Luz started after a moment. “I have something for you as well,” The god smiled brightly, reluctantly releasing her hold on Amity to walk over to the bag that had appeared in the jarl’s house that morning. 

"Oh?" Amity asked, trying to keep the excitement out of her voice, but Luz knew better as she picked up the bag and pulled a length of violet fabric from it.

"Your cloak?" Amity cocked a brow.

"Your cloak," Luz corrected. “It's the same color as the one I usually wear, but I had this one made for you." She draped it across Amity's shoulders and secured it with the gold pin bearing the sigil of light. 

Sure enough, unlike Luz’s, which had seen better days, this one was unblemished by rips, tears, or puncture holes that Luz’s clothing often bore from accidental stabbings or other mishaps, though her invulnerability prevented injury to her body, her clothes were not as fortunate.

The material was soft and light on her shoulders, it’s bright, royal color stood out brightly, especially against the white tunic she wore today. Amity rubbed it between her fingers. It felt strong.

“This one I had done a little differently than how mine usually are done… it's enchanted against fire and despite how thin it seems, should go a long way to keeping you warm,” Luz explained. “Most of the Aesir have clothing weaved like this, but I've never really bothered since I didn't need it," Luz said.

"It's wonderful, Luz," Amity said, looking up at her.

"I also thought… even though we're putting off our wedding for a while, you could wear my colors… if you wanted…," she trailed off, sounding unsure.

“So everyone knows I'm yours?" Amity asked, a smirk curling her lips up at the corners as Luz's cheeks pinked.

One thing Amity had discovered about her lover was that, though rare, Luz had a small penchant for possessiveness at times when it came to her, especially after an incident with a visiting jarl that had taken a liking to Amity, much to the light gods' chagrin. 

They'd been having a meeting about some trading and Amity had been very much ignoring his brazen attempts at flirting as they talked outside and she'd caught sight of Luz halfway across the village over his shoulder, glaring holes into the back of his head as the village children hung all over her.

She smiled to herself at the grumpy looking god and the visiting jarl had mistaken it to be toward himself and he'd taken a step closer, reaching out to lay a hand on her shoulder, emboldened, which made Luz's face contort further into a look of fury.

It was amusing to Amity since it happened so rarely. Luz knew better, she only wanted to be with her.

She'd had to quickly tie up their negotiations and take the angry god home and spend the evening reassuring her, not that Amity minded that either.

"No… no," Luz mumbled. "I don't own you… just…" she gave a shrug not sure how to explain it without it sounding like she was trying to show ownership of the jarl. She just liked it when Amity wore her clothes, her colors, or her medallion. Physical indications of her commitment to her.

"I am yours, Luz, the same way you are mine," Amity finally said, pressing in closer. It would be a lie to say Amity didn't feel similarly, but she had no sigils, or personal colors to distinguish her from anyone else the way the gods did, or the way she had when she had been a member of clan Blightbane. It had taken a while for her siblings to break their habit of wearing the clans' dark greens, switching to the pale blues that indicated their adherence to Gus instead.

"I just don't have anything to give you that would show others," she said.

"I'll just have to tell everyone who will listen." She grinned. "Tell them that I'm happily betrothed to Jarl Amity of Boneshaven; my light." she pressed her cheek against Amity’s making the warrior giggle.

“You’re ridiculous…,” she said, voice full of all the fondness she felt for the taller woman. 

“A lot of people have started to arrive, we should probably go out there and make sure nothing caught on fire…. yet…,” Luz finally hummed, pressing a kiss to Amity’s temple. “My brothers are here after all.”

“Which ones?” Amity asked suspiciously.

"Gus and Hooty,"

"Of course they are… what about King?" she asked as they stepped outside the house followed by Otabin. 

"King can't come for the obvious reasons… though he said he might show up tonight when everyone is so drunk that they won't even remember he was here," she laughed and Amity rolled her eyes.

"What about your parents?" She asked if they moved down the hill. 

"Mami should be here soon if she isn't already, father had something important going on but said he would try to come tomorrow. It is a week, after all, plenty of time for people to come and go and drink till they pass out," she laughed.

"I have a distinct feeling that those soon to be wed will be the drunkest of them all," Amity smirked.

"I'd put gold on that," Luz grinned right back as they reached the village proper.

"I should go check on Willow," Amity suggested and the two made their way to the house on the edge of the village.

They let themselves in and found the village herbalist standing in the middle of her home, smoothing the long fabric of her dress. The gold knotwork embroidered around its edges stood out in bright contrast to the deep, forest green color of the rest of the material and even further against the crown of bright red flowers threaded through her dark hair.

She looked up at them and smiled.

"How does it look?" she asked shyly.

"You look wonderful," Amity assured her, crossing the room to wrap her friend in a hug.

"I can't wait to see Boscha's face," Luz agreed.

"Did you ever figure out your offering for the exchange?" Amity asked curiously.

One of the main traditions was normally the exchanging of ancestral swords between the bride and groom, the bride's, a symbolic gesture of protection passing from father to groom and the groom's ancestral sword given to his bride to be bequeathed to any sons they might have. This marriage had no groom and Willow was adamant that she didn't need to be protected by anyone. The two were still going to exchange rings and something personal with each other, though there was a slight change.

"I did." She nodded.

"Are you going to show us?" Luz asked, cocking her head to the side curiously.

"You'll see at the ceremony." Willow smiled and Luz shrugged.

"Alright."

"Where is Boscha?" Willow looked at her soon to be sister.

"Dealing with your future brothers." Luz grinned. "Gus and Hooty arrived earlier, if I had to guess I would say Gus went to find the twins and she’s probably keeping an eye on Hooty."

"No doubt." Willow rolled her eyes and Amity sighed to herself, hoping that she had imparted how serious today was to her siblings and that they would behave themselves even under the influence of the god of mischief.

"I'm ready, so I suppose I should go out and begin greeting people," Willow said, looking between them and Amity nodded before they headed back out into the village. 

The rest of the day was spent in hurried preparation and receiving their many visitors from the seven villages that made their homes along the coast of the Southern Isle and who had come to honor the couple, bringing with them a variety of gifts in the form of food and drink.

Camila arrived not long after, happily greeting Willow and expressing her thanks for finally reigning in the god of storms, much to Boscha’s annoyance, though she said nothing when her mother shot her a knowing look. She hugged Luz and exchanged polite if distant greetings with Amity, who simply had to accept the matriarch's distant nature for now. There wasn’t much to be done about it, she certainly couldn’t make the woman like her, but Luz was right. They had put all the unpleasantness that had transpired between them behind them and if they could move forward, then so could Camila; eventually. 

Things were due to start soon as the sun neared the horizon line, casting hues of bright orange and pinks across the sky. The village of Boneshaven was fit to burst with the many people gathered within its walls.

Even so, it was relatively quiet since the festivities had not yet begun, after that it would be a week-long fever dream of drinking, eating, singing, and dancing till they passed out only to repeat the process again when they woke up; they did nothing in halves. 

"Are we ready?" Amity asked as she looked at Boscha and Willow standing in front of her. Smoke from the burning sage they had thrown in the fire wafted through the air.

The two nodded, but the noise of people chatting all around them did not quiet.

Boscha growled ready to turn and yell when a loud, piercing whistle silenced everyone. Those closest winced at the sound, save Luz. 

Boscha blinked down at the herbalist as she pulled her fingers away from her mouth after silencing the crowd's chatter, though the lyres and drums continued to play quietly in the background somewhere; Boscha grinned at her.

Amity only barely managed not to roll her eyes at the two, though only because she doubted she and Luz were much better.

Gus, standing behind Boscha, held out a long, horn handled dagger and dark metal ring engraved with runes that the god took as Luz handed an identical pair to the herbalist. They set the rings on the tips of the blades as they held them up, the backs of their hands holding them pressed against each other. 

"Willow of Boneshaven and Boscha of the northern mountains…," Amity started. 

Somewhere behind Willow, Luz mouthed the words _' of the northern mountains'_. Where had her sister come up with that? Probably that Himinbjorg was to the north of here. 

“You may exchange these daggers as proof of the transferring of your protection from yourselves, to each other, before us and the gods.” 

The two couldn’t stop smiling at each other as they took the offered daggers and took the rings from the tips to slide onto their own fingers.

“You may also exchange your own gifts to each other.” Amity glanced at Boscha who grinned as Gus handed her a solid metal mace. Two feet long with sharp barbs covering the surface of the head of the weapon and soft leather-wrapped tightly around its handle. 

It took all Willow had not to chuckle at her spouse's gift, because of course Boscha would give her a weapon. For all her faults, the god of storms and strength tried, tried hard, but fighting was all she knew, the way she showed that she cared. After three years, Willow knew this well.

Thus the reason for the herbalist’s own gift.

Luz was grinning brightly as she handed over her own gift in exchange for the mace.

A shield.

A round shield, about two feet in diameter, a round metal plate at its center. It was painted a deep green, with flowers painted around it in bright blues and reds, along with runes for protection.

Boscha blinked as she took the offering and looked at it before her pale gray-blue eyes flickered up to Willow, the question in them was clear. 

“You have a way of rushing headfirst into every fight heedless to any danger, and I can’t always be there to make sure you don’t die, so hopefully if you carry this with you it will at least get you back to me so I can patch you up,” she explained. 

Luz watched with wide eyes as her sister’s grip on the shield tightened, the wood creaked beneath her powerful grip as her eyes took on a wet glaze. 

Amity could see the god fighting the waterworks and quickly moved on. 

"Do you swear an oath, with the gods as witness to never forsake one another?" She looked at them.

"I do swear," they echoed, though Boscha had to first clear her throat, though it still creaked a little with the emotion she was trying to swallow.

“Then you’re married!” The jarl declared and those gathered cheered as Boscha wasted no time shoving the shield into Gus’s arms and scooping Willow up into her own and planting a long kiss on her mouth, the herbalist’s fingers digging into her scalp.

When she finally released her she turned toward those gathered, Willow still lifted off the ground, Boscha’s arm wrapped around her waist as she threw the other up in the air.

“Let’s drink!” She called and the raucous cheer of the crowd answered her. Willow’s own arm shooting up.

Amity and Luz shared a knowing glance.

~

Loud music and singing filled the air as people yelled and hollered, eating and drinking till they fell to the dirt, too drunk to go on as others danced around them, sometimes tripping over them and each other as the party carried on around them in drunken abandon. 

How many barrels had they emptied now? Enough that a new game was being played where several were being set up in a triangle and guests were taking turns throwing things and other drunken guests at them to try and knock down as many as they could in one throw. 

At present, Boscha held the record for knocking down all ten after throwing Hooty into them, while her new bride sat atop her shoulders cheering, flagon in one hand.

“Ha ha!” The god of war cheered from his place laying in the dirt. 

“Someone throw me!” Edric yelled, standing atop an empty barely, shirtless, his tunic gripped in one hand and an empty flagon in the other. 

“Ed!” Emira called, exasperated as she and Viney tried to grab her drunken brother, but not before Gus could appear and lift his adherent overhead and tossed him at the barrels, knocking down three.

“Whoo…,” Edric weakly cheered, raising an arm overhead from his place laying across an overturned barrel.

Amity just giggled to herself as she watched her older siblings interact with the Aesir.

"I think this is the most lively wedding I've ever been to," Luz laughed, sitting next to Amity at a table across from the new couple.

"It’s an improvement over the last time I went to a wedding. It was a little… bloodier." The god of storms smirked as she tilted her head back and emptied her flagon for an uncountable number of times since the party had started hours ago. 

"Do I even want to know?" Willow asked, looking up at her new spouse over her own mead, but grinned to herself all the same.

"I think she's talking about the time the frost giant Thrym stole her hammer while she was blackout drunk to use as ransom to try and marry our mother," Luz snickered around her own flagon.

"What?!" Amity laughed, leaning drunkenly into her betrothed's side. 

"I had to dress up like our mother and sneak in to steal it back," Boscha said.

"What happened?" Willow cocked a brow. 

"I got it back and killed a bunch of them while I was at it. Damn, bloody giants," the god scoffed before standing and offering her hand to Willow, who didn’t question it as the god dragged her off. Luz and Amity shared a look, the god of light only shrugged as they continued to drink and chat with everyone as they passed by.

Viney and Emira sat with them a while after they gave up trying to reign in Edric and the god of mischief. They settled on watching the two run around the party together, making…well, mischief was the polite way of putting the mockery the two were making of themselves.

Where Hooty had gone they weren’t sure, but nothing was on fire and there was no great brawl breaking out anywhere, so the Luz was content to let him do his own thing as she drank herself into a stupor along with Amity and their friends. Their mother might have been with him, she was the only one who could control the god of war without having to smack him senseless, as was Boscha’s one solution. 

At one point she saw her twin slinking around silently through the shadows and drinking straight out of a mead barrel as some drunken guests watched in shock. Luz snorted to herself at that.

Eventually, the two found themselves alone again and continued to drink and talk in low tones to each other.

The music picked up again at one point in a lively tune and Luz was struck by the sudden urge to move, as she often was.

She stood and grabbed Amity’s hand and tugged her toward the area where everyone was dancing around the roaring bonfire. Amity grinned and allowed herself to be dragged along, nearly tripping over herself as she let Luz tug her along, moving seamlessly into a dance around the fire, carefully avoiding the fallen and stumbling drunks all around them, laughing as they themselves stumbled, barely holding each other up at times. They had kept pace with the other couple, but they were nowhere near the drinkers Boscha and Willow were. 

Luz spun her around and the world was a blur of colors and happy sounds, and perhaps some of it was the drink coursing through her, but most of it was unfettered joy, the kind that only the god that held her in her arms could bring her. Luz pulled her back in close and they somehow danced across the square and were just barely within the fire's light when Amity was struck by an urge of her own and fisted her hands into Luz’s long tunic and pulled her further away until they found themselves tripping into the bushes of Willow’s garden away from the rest of the party. 

Luz giggled drunkenly as the jarl pressed a kiss to her neck, trying to work the clasps of her tunic with fumbling fingers.

“We can’t, we’re… were at my sister’s wedding,” Luz hummed, but made no motion to stop her, instead she just pulled her closer, tilting her head away to allow the equally drunken warrior better access. 

“Where do you think they went?” Amity slurred against her neck.

“Argh, I don’t want to think about that!” Luz laughed, shoving the jarl off her. “Sorry, sorry!” Luz laughed, sitting up, but Amity was laying in the dirt giggling to herself. Luz pulled her up to sit and they leaned against each other, vision starting to swim.

Luz grinned, nuzzling her head against the deliriously giggling jarls’.

“I love you,” she hummed, laying a sloppy kiss on the corner of her mouth, making her only laugh harder. 

“I love you more,” is the slurred reply.

“Impossible!” she waved a hand, nearly smacking Amity in the process. “I’ve been always only loved you for even longer!” she asserted.

“What?” Amity laughed, not sure if that made sense or she was just that drunk. 

“I-...,” Luz started. 

“Will you two get out of here!” Boscha yelled, sticking her head out of the window of the herbalist’s house, Willow’s giggles coming from the background. 

The two shrieked, scrambling to their feet and taking off toward the jarls home, laughing at each other as they tripped and stumbled. 

“Sorry, Boschaaaa!” Luz called over her shoulder, but couldn’t stop her snickering as Amity pulled her along. 

They stumbled up the hill, Amity tripped only twice on her own cloak before they got inside, closing the door behind them. 

“Come on,” Amity pulled her along, slingshotting the drunken, limp god by the arm into the bed with a surprised yelp before crawling in atop her. 

Luz’s world was doubled as she looked up at a blurry pair of her dopily smiling betrothed.

“I don’t think even I have enough energy for two of you…,” she mumbled, blinking blearily up at her. Amity laughed and pressed a kiss to her mouth before moving to lay a few more against her neck. Luz hummed and closed her eyes for what she thought was but a second, but the next time she opened them Amity was laying limp atop her, snoring quietly against her chest.

“This is good too,” she mumbled, wrapping her arms around her and turning them over to lay on their sides, snuggling closer to the sleeping warrior, who mumbled incoherently under her breath in her sleep as she subconsciously wiggled closer to the warmth.  
[](https://ibb.co/Fwj7ynz)  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy New Year peeps!


	20. Chapter 20

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 2 chapters on 1 day? Blasphemy!  
> probably be a few days before the next one.

Luz awakened to Amity squirming around beside her, face buried into her neck. 

“Make it stop…,” Amity’s voice moaned in her ear before burying her face deeper into her neck. 

Luz blinked her eyes open tiredly, disoriented. She couldn't remember the last time she had actually slept. Or rather, the last time she had gotten so drunk she had passed out. 

Bright sunlight was filtering into the house and onto both her and Amity's faces. Sure, she could dim it, but simply for her and her lover's convenience would probably be an abuse of her powers, not to mention raise a host of questions from the party still raging outside.

"Just move your face…," she mumbled and felt Amity smack her side with a lazy hand.

"Not the light, the noise," she moaned, burying her face further into the god's neck.

Now that she said it, Luz could hear the loud music and revelry still going on strong outside. She huffed. 

Amity was hungover. 

"Nothing I can do about that, my light," she yawned, turning her head to press a kiss to Amity's hair. She grumbled against her, hot breath on Luz's collar.

Slowly, much to Amity's annoyance, Luz sat up, blinking as she looked around the room.

"Luz…," Amity groaned, tugging on her betrothed's tunic weakly. 

Luz chuckled, she was immune to the less desirable effects of alcohol, something she knew annoyed Amity to no end.

"There's still six days of party to endure, my light, and your village is still full of people out there. We should check to see if all our siblings are still alive." Luz smirked and Amity grumbled.

"If my brother and sister are dead then so be it. They would have wanted to go out that way…," she grumbled, which made Luz grin as she reached over and rubbed the jarls back soothingly, eliciting a pleasurable sound from her. The jarl wasn’t wrong, if Edric had to go out, that would certainly be the way he would have wanted to go; drunk and making a nuisance of himself. 

"Come on, let's get some food in you and you'll start to feel better." Luz patted her back before climbing out of the bed.

"No," Amity grumbled and pulled her cloak over her head. The dark violet material blotted out the light.

"Stay there then," Luz said with a shrug as she made her way to the door. She knew better than to push when Amity was like this.

The jarl only grunted in response as Luz left.

Early, afternoon summer sun shined across the village, and at the bottom of the hill, she could see the party still carrying on below with no less intensity than when she and Amity had run off to make out in Willow's garden. Music and singing wafted up the hill to her ears.

A flash of bright red made her look toward the village gates and from here she could see her sister, a bright spot, moving toward the gates with two other familiar figures.

She quickly made her way down the hill, carefully avoiding the party, lest she get pulled back in by the many drunks still roaming about.

Boscha, Hooty, and Gus were standing in front of the gates as she walked up to them, their voices carried over to her.

"I can't stay any longer. Ha, Sorry, sister," Hooty said, looking contrite as he faced the two of them.

"You're not staying?" Luz asked as she walked up to them.

"Well, look who decided to get up," Boscha smirked at her as she joined them. "Have fun last night after you left the garden?" the storm god asked with a knowing look. Luz wasn't going to confirm or deny what may or may not have happened last night, which really was just sloppily, drunken making out before they fell asleep, but Boscha didn't need to know that.

She pointedly ignored her elder sister and turned her gaze to Hooty.

"You're leaving?" She asked him and he nodded, crossing his arms.

"War is coming… I can feel it, I must go... Ha ha," He said, looking serious, which was always strange to the rest of them. "But enjoy the mead I brought!" He grinned at them, the seriousness falling away nearly as quickly as it appeared.

Boscha frowned at that, it must have been something big coming if Hooty could sense it and was skipping out on the chance to annoy several village's worth of people for six more days. She nodded. 

"Thanks," she said and the war god grinned brightly at her and nodded before he reached out to ruffle Luz and Gus's hair.

"Argh, Hooty!" the light god shrieked, trying to push his large hand away. Gus just grunted, accepting. The war god laughed before he finally pulled his hands back and held one up in farewell before he turned and retreated back down the path leading away from the village and leaving Gus and his sisters in his wake.

Luz grumbled, trying to fix her hair but gave up. It was just going to get mussed again tonight.

"Too bad, it would have been a lot of fun with him here…," Gus said, immediately drawing both of his sisters' attention.

"You mean chaotic," Boscha grumbled, looking at the god of mischief irritably, knowing exactly what he meant.

"What kind of wedding would it be otherwise?" Gus laughed, a grin lighting up his face. Boscha snorted as they turned and made their way back to the party. 

Luz followed them, glancing around. People were still drinking and eating like they hadn't seen food before.

"Where's Willow, still asleep?" she asked.

"Ha!" Boscha barked a laugh and nodded over to a table, and sure enough, Willow was sitting there, drinking from a flagon as they walked up. Boscha sat down next to her, throwing an arm over her shoulders; Willow leaned into it.

"I'm not sure if I'm surprised or not," Luz said with a grin. 

"I guess Amity is still asleep?" She asked.

"Well, she was awake when I left, though against her will." She shrugged.

“That sounds about right. Amity can hold her own, but the next day?” Willow shook her head, laughing. 

“No one can outdrink my flower.” Boscha grinned and Willow rolled her eyes but was grinning behind her drink.

They sat there for an hour before a commotion made them all lookup. The village square had been cleared of people and empty mead barrels had been set up in a large circle where several men were bare-knuckle brawling.

"What's going on?" Willow leaned over to look.

"They started a tournament."

They looked up at Viney and Emira standing next to their table. 

"A tournament?" Boscha repeated, a grin slowly spreading across her face.

"Aye, bragging rights to the winner and their village," Viney said. "I'm going to fight and win glory for Boneshaven, myself, and my patron." She hooked a thumb to herself.

“Baldur?” Gus asked, looking at Luz with a smirk. The god of light rolled her eyes; how she hated that name. Eda was lucky she liked her so much, or she might actually be mad about her spreading that name around.

“Ah, no.” Viney shook her head. “Everyone around here pays tribute to the god of light of course, but many of us have our own patrons outside Baldur.” Viney held up the round shield hanging from her back and beat a fist against it and the painted image of clouds and lightning. “My eternal fealty is to the lord of storms,” she said with a grin, Boscha perked up at this

“You’re an adherent of Thor?” Luz asked and the warrior nodded. 

“Aye, come on, Em.” Viney jerked her head toward the ring and the green-haired woman followed the stout warrior.

“Let’s go, you two!” Boscha suddenly stood, turning to her siblings.

“What?” Gus and Luz blinked up at her.

"We're going to fight!" She grabbed both her younger siblings by the back of their tunics and dragged them away from the table towards the tournament.

"Neither one of us are fighters." Gus squirmed in her grip.

"Yeah, why do we have to fight?" Luz scrambled to keep up with her sister's yanking pace, trying to keep her feet beneath her.

"Because it's my wedding and I said so!" Was the storm god’s reply. Willow followed behind them, shaking her head.

When they reached the cheering crowd she released them. They glanced at each other and shrugged as they watched two large bearded warriors pummeling each other to bloody messes until one stood victorious, fists raised and roaring his praise to the god of war.

"Too bad Hooty couldn't stay, he'd have loved this!" Gus grinned as the two sisters looked at each other, both glad that their eldest brother had left before the tournament had started.

They could both picture exactly how that would have gone.

Hooty, standing over a mountain of beaten bloody mortals and laughing to himself.

"Only you would want that…," Boscha gruffed and Gus snickered, knowing full well what the end result would be. What was life without a little chaos?

"I don't know, it seems unfair for the three of us to fight. You're the god of strength, I'm invulnerable, and Gus is still a god." Luz frowned 

"Hey!" The god of mischief huffed. Luz smiled sheepishly at him and shrugged. "I'm tough!"

"I'll go easy on them," Boscha said, crossing her arms.

Gus and Luz shared a long look.

"Yeah, okay," Luz mumbled to herself.

Some men pulled the downed warrior from the ring and Boscha slapped a hand on Gus's back.

"Go on, 'tough' guy." The god of storms grinned. Gus huffed but handed his staff to Luz and jumped into the ring.

It didn't last more than a few minutes before Gus was standing triumphantly over the man to the cheers of the drunken crowd. 

"I mean, it would have been sad if he didn't win," Boscha whispered conspiratorially to Luz, who snorted as Gus left the ring to collect his staff.

"Decided to have a go at it yourself?” Emira walked up to them smiling.

"Apparently." Luz shrugged. They turned back to the ring as Edric jumped in and Emira sighed, shaking her head.

Her twin was still shirtless and still drunk. His face painted with blue runes as he howled at the crowd. 

"He still seems to be in high spirits," Willow laughed, watching as Viney stepped into the ring. "I'm going to be patching up Ed by the end of this," she said to Emira, who nodded.

The drunken twin took a wild swing at the stout warrior who easily ducked beneath it before countering with an uppercut that sent Edric stumbling backward on his back and he didn't get back up as the crowd broke out into wheezing laughter at the jarls drunken brother, laid out in a single punch.

Emira shook her head tiredly at him as he was heaved over to them, completely unconscious.

Before anyone could blink Boscha was climbing her way into the ring and Emira's face paled.

"She's surprisingly eager…" Luz cocked her head and Willow nodded. She could tell by the look on her wife’s face that she was chomping at the bit to have a go at Viney and she was sure she knew why.

"You know her." Gus waved a hand. "She said she was an adherent of Thor, Boscha has to test her strength herself," He hummed, paying more attention to twirling his staff than the fights. 

"Luz, Willow, do something!" Emira hissed at the two as Boscha and Viney circled each other.

"She said she'd take it easy on her…," Luz trailed off, not sure how true that was. The god of storms had a tendency to get carried away, after all, her temper was famous among gods and mortals alike.

"Boscha won't hurt her," Willow soothed with a hand on her shoulder. Luz gave the herbalist a weary side glance. Willow may have been the storm god's wife, but Luz had known here for a very, very long time. One never knew what Boscha was going to do till it was done.

"I hate to bloody you during your own wedding," the shorter warrior smirked as they circled, fists raised.

"I'd like to see you try." Boscha grinned wickedly.

The god took an experimental swing at Viney, who leaned back, just out of reach, and took a step back. 

Boscha was much taller, with a longer reach. Viney knew she needed to take her shots carefully.

She danced quickly out of the way of two more punches and Boscha scowled, growing more irritated at the constant evasion. She darted forward and swung harder then she should have, but instead of ducking, Viney dashed forward into Boscha's swing, avoiding her fist as she darted into her guard and delivered her own right hook into the redheads' jaw

Boscha took a single step back, moving her jaw experimentally.

That had hurt a bit.

She grinned, eyes narrowed as they locked on the warrior, still looking up at her defiantly, fists raised in front of her face.

The god shot forward, a lightning-quick punch shooting out and popping the warrior in the nose.

Viney stumbled back, eyes watering as blood started to pour from her nose.

She blinked away the water and only scowled as she wiped away the blood with the back of her arm, fists back up just as Boscha darted in, swinging. Viney blocked it with an arm, wincing at the force that slammed into her.

She knew the redhead was strong, but it felt like she had been just slammed in the arm with a boulder.

She shot back, nailing Boscha in the chin and the storm god only grinned wider at the pain. 

This one was strong; but how strong were her convictions?

Boscha caught the warrior's incoming second fist and yanked her in close, delivering another powerful punch to the gut that sent her flying back, rolling across the ground.

Boscha waited, as the warrior righted herself, panting and wiping the blood from her upper lip. That would have been enough to put down lesser men but Viney stood, fist raised again.

"This isn't easy!" Emira hissed at Luz and Willow, who winced.

"I mean, it is for Boscha…," Luz tried, but winced as Emira glared at her.

"What's going on?" They looked up as Amity walked up to them, still looking a little haggard, but much better than when Luz had seen her earlier in the afternoon.

"Some guests started a tournament," Willow said, nodding to Viney and Willow still taking turns pummeling each other. 

"Viney is fighting Boscha!?" The jarl blinked.

"Yes, and I need you to stop it," Emira pleaded with her sister. 

"Stop it?" Amity blinked. True, as the jarl of the village she had the final say on nearly everything and could stop fights if they were unfair or much too one-sided, but Viney was holding her own and showed no signs of wanting to give up, and Boscha not letting her. It would be dishonorable on everyone involved for her to step in; she made a face.

"Amity!" Emira begged.

"I can't, Em! Unless Viney wants to quit and Boscha won’t let her I can't step in.” Amity frowned, watching Boscha deck Viney a second time in the mouth and sending her sprawling again. Viney didn't stay down, instead reciprocating the punch with one of her own, though they didn’t seem to phase Boscha at all.

"Go, Viney!" Edric cheered, conscious again. His trip into sleep land had sobered him up some.

"Ed!" Emira snapped at her twin, fuming.

Viney panted, blood pouring from her nose and down her chin as she bared her bloody teeth at the redhead in a snarl, which only made the god grin harder. 

She couldn't quit now, she'd made a vow to win glory for her home and her patron. What would Emira think if she let the red warrior from the north beat her so thoroughly in her own home? No, she would fight till she couldn’t. 

Boscha was impressed, not something many people could do. Over the years the god of storms had certainly had more champions than Luz, who only ever had Amity, but she was far more selective than many of the other gods who simply slapped their marks on any mortal they could use; fodder for Asgard’s political arena.

Boscha had standards, if a mortal was going to represent her they were going to do it right. The storm god had already decided, this one would do nicely, but it was time to finish this.

The next time Viney came at her she sidestepped, wrapping an arm around the warrior's waist, and lifted her off the ground, swinging her around and in one smooth motion slammed her back into the dirt.

Viney wheezed as all the air was knocked from her lungs. 

Her body wasn't the only thing that hurt though, her pride was in as much agony as her bones.

Boscha knelt down at her side.

"Don't get back up. You won't win, mortal," her voice was low and over the roar of the crowd, no one would have heard her even if she had been speaking in a normal volume. 

Viney blinked as the redheads' stormy blue-gray eyes glowed with light in the shadow of her bangs, a spark of electricity crackling across them.

Viney didn’t know what to say. Surely the red-head leaning over her wasn’t who she thought she was. 

“Are you okay?!” Emira’s voice drew her gaze and she glanced over to see her lover looking worried, but she was standing next to Luz and Gus and suddenly a plethora of odd things she’d witnessed over the last three years all snapped into place and her eyes flickered back up to Boscha, who only grinned at her.

“You’re…”

“Hup hup,” Boscha shushed her with a shit-eating grin. “We’ll talk.” The god offered her a hand and Viney took it after only a moment of hesitation, allowing Boscha to haul her to her feet effortlessly. 

As they left the ring two more warriors quickly jumped in and commenced beating on each other for the glory of their homes and jarls.

Emira sighed with relief as they walked back over and began gently wiping away the blood on Viney’s face with a rag.

“I’m fine, Em,” she said distractedly, looking between the three gods and already the others could tell what had happened by the way Viney was looking at them. 

Once she was cleaned up Boscha slapped a hand on her shoulder, making her jump.

“Come with me,” Boscha didn’t wait for an answer before pulling the warrior along and Viney followed.

“Ah, Boscha’s picked her a new champion,” Gus said knowingly, grinning to himself as he turned and walked off into the crowd now that Boscha wasn’t keeping an eye on him. 

Luz wasn’t even going to try and stop the mischief-maker, it was a lost cause. 

“What exactly does that entail?” Emira looked at Luz and Amity, who shrugged.

“So far all I can say is it’s a tattoo that sometimes glows and gets warm,” she said, smirking at Luz, who huffed.

“It's more than that and you know it.” She rolled her eyes before turning to Emira. “Champions are mortals, hand chosen by us for any number of reasons. Usually, because they strongly embody our own powers or ideals. They represent and do our will here in Midgard. A lot of the others hardly ever come down here and use their champions to lead their adherents and get things done. We can’t usually directly influence our adherents, but as fellow mortals, they can; they only answer to their patron god and are connected to them by the champions' brand we impart on them. It usually comes with some divine abilities, but they’re random and their usefulness is up for debate; it depends on the mortal and god.” Luz explained with a shrug. “Viney is strong, it's no wonder Boscha wants her; she would have taken Amity had I not warned her off.” Luz crossed her arms. 

“Did you get any kind of powers?” Edric piped up as Emira turned to her sister curiously. Amity hummed thoughtfully.

“I’ve noticed my reflexes are a lot faster than they used to be, I assume that’s from the mark,” she said. 

“Probably.” Luz nodded.

“Other than that, I don’t think so.” Amity shrugged. “Maybe I would have gotten better abilities if I'd been Boscha’s champion.” Amity teased, with a smirk, glancing at Luz, who stiffened and scowled, not appreciating the jab in the slightest. Amity bumped her hip with hers and smiled at her. Luz huffed but leaned into her. 

“I need a drink,” Emira sighed before walking off. 

“I’ll join you!” Edric managed to haul himself to his feet though a little wobbly and followed his twin to the nearest open barrel of mead.

Willow just shook her head and handed her half-full flagon to Amity.

“You look like you need this.” she smiled before walking off into the crowd.

Amity looked at it before taking a long drink, and it did help dull her aches and drowsiness. Hair of the dog that bit her, though more like mauled her. 

“Feeling better?” Luz asked, wrapping an arm around her waist and tugging her in closer to her side.

“A little,” she grumbled, looking around at everyone yelling and screaming as they drank and sang. “I don’t think I can handle this for five more days…,” Amity sighed, dropping her head on Luz’s shoulder. The god hummed and pressed a kiss to her hair

“Come on.” Luz gently tugged her along and they walked, turning to go push through the crowds of drunk party-goers still going on strong even in the warm late afternoon sun.

They moved through the village quickly until they had left the crowds behind them, headed for a more deserted area, away from the main square. The lack of noise pounding in her ears did wonders for the pounding that had been between them ever since she had woken up; the mead also helped. 

“Luz, Jarl Amity!” a chorus of small voices screeched when they turned the corner to the section of the village where the children had been relegated for the most part so they wouldn’t be under drunken foot. Otabin was with them and ran over ahead of them. 

Amity smiled brightly as the herd of children crowded around them, all clamoring for their attention along with the great white wolf. 

Luz grinned to herself as she watched the jarl from the corner of her eye. Amity loved the children, she cared for everyone in the village but there was a special place in her heart for the village children. Maybe because her own childhood had been so harrowing, or maybe she would have loved children even if her parents had been more compassionate. Regardless, there was always a tender expression on her face when she looked at them and a subtle softness in her voice when she talked and joked with them; her touch always delicate, something Luz was sure was born from her own childhood. 

The warrior could be strict and commanding. Unbendable in will and resolve, but she treated the village children as though they were made of glass and she was afraid too stern a word or rough a touch would fracture them. 

She couldn’t help but let her mind wander to what the warrior would be like with her own child. That thought gave Luz pause. 

What would she be like with… their child? The thought sent a pleasant tingle up her spine. Luz had always adored children herself. She played with them in any village she found herself passing through when she was wandering Midgard.

She’d never entertained the idea of having her own before; till now. 

There was never a shortage of children in any given village that had been orphaned by fighting or abandoned for one reason or another. Finding one or two in need of a home wouldn’t be hard at all.

Amity was tough and serious, but watching her play with the village children told Luz all she needed to know; Amity would make a great mother if she wanted to be one. They could do it together.

Amity looked up from her conversation with Braxus to notice the soft, distant look Luz was gazing at her with.

“What?” she half-laughed, pushing a strand of green hair behind her ear. 

“Nothing, nothing at all, my light.” she smiled and watched as a pale, rosy hue dotted the jarls cheeks before the children were tugging on her hands, pulling her over to where they had been playing a games before they arrived. Luz started to say something but was bowled over by Otabin, licking at her face.

“Stop, stop, Otabin!” she laughed, finally managing to push the great beast away. She scratched his head as they followed Amity and the children.

They spent the majority of the afternoon playing with Otabin and the children before finally retiring beneath a tree to watch the beast continue to bounce around, giving them rides and licking their faces. 

“He never stops,” Luz chuckled, watching them as Amity leaned against her shoulder and hummed in agreement.

They sat there for a few silent moments before Luz couldn’t help herself.

“Our wedding will be bigger,” she suddenly declared, making Amity’s eyes pop open.

“No,” she said, leaving no room for argument. 

‘But Amity!” Luz argued with a grin. “Shouldn’t the jarl have a bigger wedding?” 

"Bigger than this?" She waved a hand in the general direction of the party still raging at the center of the village.

"Yes, but maybe with less mead," she laughed. Amity scoffed.

"If I had it my way, we wouldn't have a big wedding like this at all," the jarl said.

"No?" Luz cocked her head, smiling, and reached over to lace her fingers with Amity's. The jarl squeezed her hand.

"No" Amity shook her head. "I would prefer there were as few people there as possible...just my siblings and… some of yours…" she grinned as Luz laughed.

"I hate to tell you this, Amity, but all my siblings come with me." 

"Is that a threat?" she asked with a smirk, making Luz burst into giggles.

When she finally managed to stop laughing Luz smiled at her and Amity’s stomach did a flip at the adoring way she was looking at her.

“Can I ask you something?” Luz started suddenly.

“Of course…” Amity looked at her curiously.

“What do you think about… kids?” She asked after a second.

“Kids?” Amity blinked at her, confused and Luz nodded. “How do you mean?” 

“I mean like… you love kids… and so do I…and there's never a shortage of them needing homes in the villages…,” she trailed off nervously. As she stalled Amity’s eyes widened, realizing where this conversation was headed. 

“Do you… want to have kids?” Amity asked, still blinking at her betrothed with shock. Luz glanced back over at the gaggle of children playing with Otabin, screaming with laughter as they rode on the wolf’s back and chased him before her gaze found Amity’s again.

“With you I do,” she nodded. 

“I…” Amity’s face was red hot, the words in conjunction with the way Luz was looking at her made her whole body heat up. 

She hadn’t ever really thought about it before. She’d known for a very long time that men held no interest to her, and between being on her own and all the responsibilities that being Jarl held, she’d never have the time to do it on her own; as much as she wanted to. 

But with Luz?

She could easily picture that; she very much enjoyed that picture too. 

“Maybe not right away but… yes.” She nodded, smiling at her as Luz’s face lit up and warmth flooded her insides.

“Wh-” she can’t even finish the question before Luz’s lips covered her in a searing kiss. Amity fisted her hand into the thick, black fur of the mantle she’d given Luz yesterday as the gods lips move across hers.

“I know I say this often, but I love you,” Luz mumbled when she pulled back enough to speak. Amity pressed in closer.

"And I you…and I’ll never tire of hearing it." 

Luz's mouth opened to speak only for a scream to make them turn, expecting to see the children running from Otabin, but they had all stopped playing and were looking back toward the center of the village. A cloud of black smoke had begun to waft over the houses and buildings.

"What…?" Before Amity can finish the thought screaming and yelling erupt from that direction, not the joyous party kind, but the frightened and panicked kind, and along with it the clanging of metal; weapons smashing against each other.

"We're under attack!" Amity yelled.

They both jumped up and began running in that direction, Otabin running to Amity's side but the jarl stopped, grabbing Luz's arm, pulling her to a halt.

"Luz, take them to Willow's!" She gestured to the frightened children, who had frozen where they stood.

"But what about you..."

"I can take care of myself, take them somewhere safe!" The face Amity was giving her does not brook for any argument and Luz nodded, they needed to get the children somewhere safe first.

"Okay, just be careful!" Luz turned and ran back to the children as Amity and Otabin took off toward the village square. The children gathered around her knees, scared and some had already started to cry.

"What's happening, Luz?" An older one asked.

"I don't know yet, but it's going to be okay, come, we're going to go to Willow's." She ushered them in the direction of the herbalist's house on the far side of the village away from where the screaming and black smoke was coming from. She only hoped Amity would be okay, but for now, she has a host of charges that needed her protection. Her champion would be okay; she has to believe that.

Amity sprinted through the village and she already knew by the sounds growing louder the closer she got to the square, but her fears were realized at last when she turned the corner and came face to face with the village in chaos.

Warriors wearing the colors of Clan Glandis we're smashing their way through the village square. Large, bearded warriors were knocking over barrels of mead and dropping lit torches into them, sending flaming liquid across the ground.

They were so taken by surprise it was taking some time for all the half-drunken warriors to gather themselves together enough to begin fighting back, but they were, grabbing up weapons and letting out blood-curdling battle cries as they rushed to meet the warriors pushing their way deeper into the village.

Amity pulled her ax off her waist and wasted no time charging at the nearest Glandis clansman. His back was to her, and one clean swipe sent his severed head flying through the air and his body crashing into a heap on the ground.

Everything was chaos as frightened villagers ran in the opposite direction of the gates making it difficult for the warriors of Boneshaven to rush to meet their attackers, slowing them as the Invaders cut down innocent villagers standing in their way.

Amity jerked her ax free from the chest of another attacker only to turn and find one, sword raised above his head, but before the blade could drop Otabin leaped forward, sinking his fangs into the warrior’s arm. He screamed, trying to shake the wolf loose when a solid metal mace smashed into his skull sending blood splattering across the dirt as Willow stood there, panting and cheeks spattered with blood. The wolf finally let go, returning to Amity’s side. 

"What happened?!" Amity yelled.

"I don't know, we were all sitting around drinking, and then suddenly everyone was screaming and they were everywhere," the herbalist said. 

"Where's Boscha?" Amity grunted, turning just in time to avoid an ax to the skull and swinging her own, burying it in a large bearded invader's chest. He made no noise as he dropped dead to the ground.

"Boscha and Viney were fighting by the smith's house when I saw them last. Where's Luz?" Willow asked, hefting up her wedding mace as another came barreling toward her.

Amity swung her ax low, cutting him off at the knees. His screams of agony deafening until Otabin’s maw clamped around his throat, silencing his cries with a few jerks.

"We were with the children when it started. I had her take them to your house to be safe," Amity grunted, flinging her violet cloak over her shoulders. 

"I'll go there and make sure they're okay.” 

"Be careful!" were the jarl’s parting words as Willow darted off in that direction. 

Her flower crown fell from her head to the dirt as she ran and its bright red petals were quickly trampled by scrambling villagers and warriors.

It didn't take Amity long to find the red-head towering over the crowd, hammer in hand and smashing her way through attackers, her crimson tunic a mosaic of dark, wet, maroon spots.

"Where the fuck did they all come from?!" The god of storms roared as she sidestepped a great sword slash and brought her hammer down atop its wielder's back. Amity can hear the crunching and crack of bones as the god of strength and storms crushed bones to powder with every strike. "Damned, bastards, ruining my wedding!" she seethed and Amity could see lightning beginning to curl around the gods' arms.

"They're going to ruin a lot more than the wedding," Amity growled as she stood back to back with Boscha, Otabin in front of her, fur standing on end as deep thundering growls vibrated out of his chest as his lips pulled back over cleaning fangs stained crimson.

"This was planned!" The god of storms growled, swinging her hammer and splintering a round shield to bits before following up with another skull-cracking strike.

Amity agreed, someone planned this. All the villages along the southern coast are here and most of the warriors are too drunk or hungover to quickly muster a defense, though they are starting to push back, it's slow and the damage to the village is going to be great if they cannot get it together quickly.

"Did you see Willow?" Boscha asked, eyes beginning to glow. She wants to unleash a torrent of lightning, but to do so would catch too many innocents in the crossfire.

Amity will have to appreciate her restraint another time.

"She's headed for her house, I sent Luz there with the village children." She blocked a sword strike with the metal shaft of her ax and shoved him away with a kick, delivering a follow-up strike to the neck that sent blood spraying into the air. Boscha grunted in acknowledgment.

A screaming battle cry made them both turn to look at a large berserker wearing a bear head running toward them.

Boscha turned and raised her hammer but before he was even in striking distance Gus appeared, slamming his staff straight across the incoming attacker's face, stunning him and causing him to drop the ax atop himself, embedding into his shoulder, he screamed.

Two swords finished the job, sticking out the front of his chest. They pulled back out and he dropped forward, dead.

Edric and Emira stood there, panting, swords in hand.

Emira looked up and saw her sister and dashed over wrapping her in a hug, Edric not far behind.

"We're so glad you're okay!" The twins shouted in her ears, and Amity is glad to see them as well, but she doesn't have time, they’re still under attack, even as it seemed more and more of the Boneshaven warriors are fighting back, turning the tides, slowly but surely. Especially as all the visiting warriors are being led by native Boneshaven fighters through their home turf, putting their attackers on even ground with them. Were they not surprised and in the middle of all the revelry they would have had the advantage, but as it stood, having the home-field advantage at least leveled the playing field.

"Now I really wish Hooty was here," Gus scowled as he swung his staff, creating a gust of wind that put out the nearest fire to them.

"I'm pretty sure that's why we weren't attacked last night," Boscha scowled. The god of war may not have been the most brilliant of the Aesir, but he was certainly among the strongest, and immune to the effects of alcohol. 

"Gus, go and put out as many of the fires as you can before this village burns to the ground!" Boscha pointed and the god of mischief nodded. 

"You two with me," Gus turned to the twins, jerking his head. They glanced at each other before nodding.

"You two aren't warriors…" Amity took a step but her siblings smiled at her.

"No, but we live here too, and we'll defend it." Emira gripped the hilt of her sword.

"Just like our little sister." Edric grinned at her, still shirtless and face painted with runes. He looked like a warrior, despite the large purple bruise forming across his face where Viney had decked him earlier. 

"Just be careful…" Amity frowned. Both twins just winked at her as they followed their patron god back out into the chaos.

"There's a leader here somewhere, we need to find him." Boscha turned to her, Amity nodded but paused.

"What about Willow?" she asked. Boscha tensed, the leather on the handle of her hammer squeaked under her tight grip and the round shield she'd been gifted rattled on her belt with her steps.

"My flower has thorns," The god's low voice rumbled before she took off into the fray, the air crackling with static in her wake.

Amity took off running through the village, cutting down any warriors that stood in her way, just as she ran past a house a body slammed into her, sending her crashing to the ground and her ax scattering out of her grip, a swift kick to the head had her seeing stars and tasting blood. She scrabbled for her ax as a scream made her turn to look.

Otabin had his mouth clamped down over her assailant's arm, whipping his head back and forth, trying to rip the appendage clean off. The Glandis warrior screamed but with his free arm slashed his dagger across the wolf's face.

Otabin cried, releasing the arm as blood stained his snow-white fur.

Amity snatched up her ax and jumped up, bringing it down on the warrior’s back before he could fully turn to her. He let out a gurgling death cry as Amity ripped it out of his back, showering the front of her white tunic with blood.

He dropped dead and she quickly dashed to the wolf’s side. He whimpered as she gently used the sleeve of her tunic to wipe the blood from his snout. A clean-cut from the left side of his forehead down the top of his muzzle.

“You’ll be okay, baby,” she mumbled to him, pressing the fabric to his face. When she got the majority of the bleeding to stop she stood and only took two steps before she heard the wolf whimper and turned. The great white wolf was limping and Amity quickly deduced he had landed on it wrong when he’d been flung.

She bit her lip and moved the wolf into the nearest house, the family hiding inside quickly ushered her in.

“Jarl!” The bearded man inside greeted her grimly. 

“Will you keep him safe here with you for now?” she asked and the man nodded. Amity thanked him and quickly turned to go. Otabin tried to follow, whimpering.

Amity knelt down and rubbed his ears gently.

“You’re hurt, you need to stay here. I will come back for you later,” she soothed the beast, who only continued to whimper. Amity pressed a kiss to the place between his ears and stood. “Stay,’ she commanded and she could tell that he wanted to follow but did as he was told.

Amity rushed back out into the village. The enemy's forces seemed to be thinning, moving to another section of the village, she was heading in the direction of Willow’s home when she saw it.

A warrior, not dressed in the colors of Glandis, but wearing all black and a horned helmet.

Amity’s grip on her ax tightened. They were dressed exactly as the warrior that killed her three years ago, she would never forget. He was currently standing over a dead villager, his sword embedded in their chest. He pulled it free and turned and though she couldn’t see his eyes, she knew he was staring straight back at her. 

She growled deep in her throat and darted forward ax held high and the sword whipped up to block, blades locking together.

He was strong, but so was she. She pushed on the head of her ax making him take a step back but he went no further before giving a mighty shove, sending her reeling, and then a line of fire erupted across her abdomen. 

She darted back not daring to glance down and take her eyes off him, but she can feel the warm blood trickling down her stomach, but years of fighting have taught her what all kinds of wounds felt like and she knew without having to look that he only grazed her, but it still stung fiercely.

She growled as he rushed forward, swinging. She ducked under the whizzing blade and smashed the pommel of her ax into his stomach.

He doubled over with a muted sound of pain as Amity spun around and raised her ax overhead before she brought it crashing down, severing his head clean from his neck. It rolled across the dirt as his body slumped to the ground in a heavy heap.

Amity panted, setting the ax head in the dirt to hold herself up as she glanced down at the freely bleeding cut in her abdomen, staining her white shirt further into a pale rose color. 

It wasn’t terribly deep, but it hurt.

She took a breath, trying not to breathe too deeply. She could still taste the blood from when she’d been kicked in the mouth. She was exhausted, but it seemed all the invaders had now been cleared from this section of the village. 

The warriors in black, they didn’t appear anything like the Glandis warriors, or was that simply how their group leaders dressed?

They would need to take some of them alive to know for certain. 

“Amity!”

~ ~

Luz was antsy, to put it mildly, though she tried not to let it show as she sat on Willow’s bed, the frightened village children gathered around her seeking comfort.

She needed to keep them safe until the attack passed or someone else came for them, which didn’t seem likely until the former happened. Most likely it would be Willow. 

She may not have been a warrior by trade but she could fight with the best of them, she was married to the god of strength after all. That required a certain kind of strength and she knew Boscha had given the herbalist more than a few personal lessons in weapon wielding. 

She gently ran a hand through the hair of the small crying girl that had curled up in her lap, whispering soothing words to them as the sounds of fighting carried on outside, though after a time they seemed to begin growing quieter and more distant, though the children remained as scared as ever; not that Luz could fault them. 

Then she heard footsteps, quick and hurried to head their way. The children heard them too and they whimpered, pushing closer to her, but Luz set the girl aside and jumped up, moving to stand in front of them. Her eyes began to glow as she tensed, the sound drawing closer and closer. Maybe she wasn’t a warrior, but being unable to be injured would definitely give her an edge, especially as the doorway would bottleneck them.

There was a dagger in her belt, the one her uncle had given her and she drew it, waiting, ready.

The door opened and Luz jerked but stopped as Willow appeared, mace in hand.

“Luz!” The herbalist trotted inside. “Is everything okay here?” she asked, looking at all the children, who seemed fine, if not scared to death.

“Yeah, they’re all fine. Have you seen Amity?” she asked. 

“Yeah, she was over by the smiths, I don't know where she is now. I can take care of things here if you want to go find her,” she offered and Luz nodded. 

“Yeah, thanks Willow, be careful!” Luz called as she dashed out of Willow’s house. Luckily, with her champion mark, Luz can find her quickly. She can sense in what direction her betrothed was in and made her way there, ducking through the alleyways between houses, dagger in hand; she felt close by. 

Luz had never been a fighter, and she never would be, but this place was Amity’s home and Luz would fight to protect it as fiercely as the jarl herself because she knows how much it means to her light.

She met no resistance as she moved through the village, most of the invaders seemed to be dead or on their way there, bleeding to death across the ground as she passed several Boneshaven warriors and their allies who nodded or waved to her as she ran past.

“The jarl was over there last we saw!” they called and Luz thanked them without slowing, it was no secret to the people of Boneshaven what Luz and Amity were to each other, they were often the butt of jokes about their love by the villagers, who whispered in amused tones that the two, nearly joined at the hip most of the time, must have been one soul separated by the gods in the world mists at the beginning of time.

They weren't that far off.

Amity and Luz were a part of each other, there was no simpler way to put it than that. 

Luz turned a corner and sighed in relief when she saw the warrior, leaned over her ax, examining a wound. 

She took a step but movement in the corner of her eye made her look and she saw it.

An invader, dressed all in black and wearing a helmet, stood about fifty yards away, bow drawn and Luz’s heart stopped. She was moving before she even knew it, running toward Amity as fast as her legs would allow.

“Amity!” She called a warning. The jarl jerked up to look at her.

“Luz!” 

She looked and saw what Luz saw and froze. The arrow was loosed just as Luz skidded to a halt in its path, back to her.

Amity cringed at the loud thwack of the arrow as it pierced Luz’s chest but breathed a sigh of relief as her love saved her life, not for the first time. 

The black-cloaked invader turned and fled back into the village. 

“Your timing is impeccable.” Amity smiled but Luz didn’t move, only made a quiet choking sound. “Luz?” Amity dropped her ax and trotted over just as Luz took a staggering half step back, turning to face her, hand clutched around the arrow and face a mask of shock, eyes wide and mouth ajar.

[](https://ibb.co/mzkqqBM)

“Amity…” It came out half choked.

The arrow was embedded into the left side of the god’s chest, jutting out of the thick black fur of her mantle.

“Lu-” 

The god crumpled to the ground.

“LUZ!” Amity screamed running and sliding onto her knees at the god’s side.

“What is it, what’s wrong?!” she reached up, pressing her hand to Luz’s chest and she felt it.

Something warm and wet.

She pulled her hand back and her face shifted to horror at the sight of her right palm, covered in thick crimson blood. She started to shake as realization slowly washed over her, eyes darting back to the wooden arrow jutting from her lover’s chest.

Blood was starting to dribble over Luz’s trembling lips.

“Amity…,” she wheezed. “It’s…” she coughed and Amity doesn't even feel the blood speckle her cheek.

“No… no, no, NO, NO!” Amity pressed her hands to her chest, the fur was becoming wet and matted with blood and it coated Amity’s hands, made her skin crawl as panic filled her whole being as she tried to slow the flow, tears blurring her vision as Luz’s eyes glazed over.

“NO, not again!” she screamed as hot tears began sliding down her cheeks.

“LUZ!” The jarl didn't even look up as Boscha and Gus came running toward her, both of them looked horrified and dropped to her side.

“How is that possible? She’s invulnerable!” Gus yelled and the god of mischief had never looked so frightened.

“Luz…” Boscha had never looked so unsure as her hands hovered in the air around her little sister.

Amity sobbed and Luz, with a trembling hand, reached up, fingers grazing her cheek, leaving bloody trails in their wake.

“It’s…going to be... okay,” she wheezed, more blood bubbled past her lips, and that finally spurred Boscha to action.

She scooped her arms under the dying god and shot to her feet.

“We have to get her back to Asgard!” Boscha‘s voice was strained and frantic. Gus nodded and in a peal of thunder and flash of lightning, the three were gone, leaving Amity alone, kneeling on the ground, hands and face covered in her betrothed’s blood and shaking as the full force of reality hit her like a charging elk.

She choked as tears spilled from her eyes, dripping to the ground, stained pink with the blood smeared on her cheek from Luz’s gentle touch. She stared at her hands, willing the viscous red liquid to not be real; it couldn’t be.

Couldn’t be the life essence of her invulnerable god of light and joy. 

She sobbed, holding her trembling hands in front of her face, willing the blood to vanish but with every second that passed and it remained, reality sunk deeper and deeper in. 

“She had to make this so complicated…," A sudden, weary sounding voice jerked Amity from her trance. She looked up and through the haze of tears, was a man, she assumed.

Abnormally tall, in a pristine white and gold cloak that obscured most of his form, but most prominent of all was the horned, golden mask he was wearing; glowing blue eyes shining from within as he looked down at her. Immediately Amity knew, this was no mortal man.

“W-who are you!?” Amity demanded, voice shaking even as she tried to be commanding as her world fell apart around her. 

“Ah, my apologies, introductions of course. I am Belos.” He gave a mocking half-bow. “Though, I suppose you would know me by the quaint little name mortals gave me, Hel.”

“Hel…,” Amity breathed looking up at the newly revealed god, Luz’s nephew, whose adherents had been running her ragged for months now.

“It’s a shame, about my aunt. Had you stayed dead when I sent my first champion three years ago, this wouldn't have been necessary.” He shook his head almost sadly. 

“You're first… What?” Amity was in a state of shock, kneeling on the ground and covered in her lover's blood, she didn't know what to say or do, everything was happening so fast. Her hands shook and the god of death scoffed.

“Mortals, they truly know nothing,” His voice was filled with derision. “Allow me to explain then, I suppose you are owed as much for the part you have played in this, Jarl Amity of Boneshaven,” he said her name like it was the most vile poison in the nine realms. “This is about power, the power to rule, and our power is derived strongly from the worship of mortals here on Midgard. Now, my aunt, my aunt is… or rather was, quite powerful…, she just never had any inclination to use that power, until you.” He glared down at her from behind his mask and Amity’s frame shook with tremors as a dreadful feeling washed over her. 

“She was quite content to roam Midgard, never participating in the power games of Asgard, nor increasing her own power, but then… a mortal warrior began dedicating their victories in battle to her, spreading the worship of light like a plague…” His blue gaze pierced Amity to the core, sending chills down her spine as the warmth seemed to be sucked from the very air, sending chills down her spine as her breathing seized in her chest.

“She began growing more powerful and my aunt, so curious by nature, let that curiosity get the better of her. She just had to see for herself and sought you out. Now, falling in love with you, that was unexpected I must admit… and made things all the more complicated… my aunt began actively using her powers, claiming a champion, clearing away blizzards, creating stronger Summers to nourish the crops and mortals of Midgard… nourishing their lives and stealing them from me,” he growled disdainfully to himself and clenched a fist. “I tried to nip this problem in the bud early, sending my champion to be rid of you, but then she had to go and bring you back by making you her champion… then hardly ever leaving your side, or unprotected. My other aunt or my father, always nearby, watching over you upon her request,” he scoffed, folding his arms behind his back. 

Amity clenched her fists, nails digging painfully into her palms as she tried to absorb all of this. What he was saying, what it all meant. 

“I realized, unfortunately, that if I couldn’t be rid of you, that my aunt had to go… she was only going to grow more confident and powerful at your side, and as the Allfather’s favorite, they would have only encouraged it. It did take me some time to amass enough champions and followers to start this little war, to help spread my worship and grow strong enough to put this plan to action, but now it is well underway, along with my eventual ascent to Asgard,” he said with an amused little huff. “My aunts and uncles posed the only problem, but they were all held together by that single lynchpin of light, If I removed her, they would all fall apart,” he hissed beneath his mask.

“How could Luz…,” Amity can’t even finish the sentence. Speaking Luz’s name is too painful, it sucks away her breath, stabs at something tender in her chest. Belos chuckled at that. 

“Simple, War now has his hands full all across Midgard, as does Darkness, with the coming onset of an everlasting winter. My father will do nothing but make things worse as he always has and Strength will be alone, to deal with the frost giants who will be battering at Asgard’s door once they realize the gods have scattered. Leaving the Allfather and the lesser Aesir to scrabble in all directions, trying to prevent Ragnarok as Midgard falls to pieces,” he hummed to himself as he walked in a circle around her, looking down at her. “There was only one problem with this of course…” 

“Her invulnerability…,” Amity breathed as the pieces began to fit together in her buzzing mind, trying to make it all make sense.

“Quite right!” He praised with a sickeningly sweet voice which made the jarls skin crawl. “My aunt's invulnerability was quite famous, she could feel no pain and no mortal wound could steal her life. A problem for me, but then I thought, surely there must be a way to penetrate that infamous invulnerability, afterall, even the gods are susceptible to death, or my grandmother would not have placed such a spell upon her. Then, it came to me...” He held up his hand as though he'd had a eureka moment, his white cloak swished around his ankles as he continued to circle her like a vulture over a wounded animal. 

“I decided that perhaps her sole champion and lover might know something useful, and to my great surprise… you did.” His voice took on a much darker tone, echoing in his mask. “Always when you thought no one was looking,… plucking those seemingly innocent plants from the trees and ground and casting them into the fire… how curious I thought it was at first, a mortal quirk, but then, it kept happening. Anytime you came across those green leaves and white berries… you destroyed them, and with such conviction and contempt,” He tsked with a knowing voice. “It did not take me long to deduce why you might do this. True, I did not know for sure, until today, a gamble on my part. So, I really must thank you, Jarl Amity of Boneshaven, for revealing my aunt's weakness to me. I don’t think even given another thousand years would I ever have figured it out without your help,” his tinny voice echoed with a low smugness as his glowing blue eyes bore into her. 

“No… I... I didn’t…” More tears sprung to Amity’s eyes and slid down her cheeks as his words sunk into her skin, puncturing her heart like the arrow in Luz’s chest.

It was her fault; Luz was dead because of her.

She choked on her tears as overwhelming guilt and anguish made her tremble.

Her over cautiousness had revealed Luz’s weakness… Her use of her powers more and more to help and protect her made her a bigger target to the other Aesir vying for power. 

A sob burst out from her throat and tears blurred her vision as she looked down at her blood-covered hands, crimson slowly darkened to maroon as it dried and flaked on her skin.

Grief, hot and searing erupted from her chest as the reality of everything cut to the bone, slicing clean through her.

She’d killed her love; she’d killed Luz. 

“This all truly was unfortunate,” Belos hummed, voice thick with hollow sympathy as agony tore Amity apart. He stopped his pacing in front of her. “In truth, had my aunt never met you, she’d still be alive.” His words chilled her to the bone, snuffing out any remaining warmth within, along with the cold wind that suddenly swept through the village. 

“Ah, it’s happening already… summer fades,” he breathed reverently. “Without its life-giving warmth, Niflheim will soon be full of the weary dead to empower and exalt me.” He raised a clenched fist in front of him. “I should go and prepare. Farewell, Jarl.” He turned to go.

“Wait!” Amity managed to choke out through her tears and the god paused but did not move to face her again.

“Why… would you tell me this?” she hiccuped, voice weak and tight. 

He turned to look at her over his shoulder, blue eyes glowing brightly.

“I'm grateful for your, albeit, unknowing help, so the least you deserved was an explanation for your betrothed’s death, but more than that; because nothing you do can stop it.” 

He turned and sunk into the ground, like a puddle of darkness, vanishing. 

Amity choked, hands balled into fists as dried blood flaked off her skin like snow, sliding down till her forehead was pressed into the dirt.

She screamed until her voice refused to make sound.


	21. Chapter 21

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have no schedule... its posted when the moment strikes ,lol

The lights were dim, low light shined in through the windows to light the dark inside the longhouse. The darkness was accompanied by a stifling quiet that rang in her ears.

Amity had not moved from her bed for days, not to eat or drink, nor did she sleep. She only laid in bed and cried or stared listlessly up at the ceiling.

She'd never shed as many tears in her life as she had over the last four days. She went through phases of unending tears and bouts of feeling almost nothing at all. In some ways, this would almost have been a relief, if nothing didn’t feel so heavy and empty. It weighed like a stone inside her that compressed her ability to feel anything at all outside pain and anguish.

Which was where she was at this moment, lying in bed staring up at the thatched roof above her. It was the middle of summer, yet it was cool outside, as though it were fall. She had long ago let the fire go out in the hearth, letting her outsides turn as cold as her insides, cold and lifeless.

She'd never felt so empty, knowing she wouldn’t ever see her Luz again. Wouldn't feel the warmth of her arms wrapped around her or the sense of peace that accompanied the god of light everywhere she went, see that smile that lit up a room.

An image of Luz flashed through her mind, those last moments they had spent together before everything had gone to shit. Sitting beneath the tree, watching the children play with Otabin as they exchanged soft words of love and talked about their wedding, one that would now never come.

With that thought, the emptiness subsided to make way for a sudden, near drowning wave of yet more grief as she burst into tears again. Painful sobs racked her whole body as they had for days now; hot tears slid down her cheeks.

Her eyes were raw and her body ached as hunger gnawed at the pit of her stomach, yet the idea of eating made her feel even sicker.

Why should she even be alive?

She was a traitor, no matter how unintentionally. She had betrayed her patron god, betrayed her lover, betrayed Luz.

She’d only wanted to protect Luz, keep her safe in the village. She should have listened when Luz told her not to worry. The god of death had been spying on her, watching her, for months, maybe even years since Luz had spoken to her of her one weakness.

Mistletoe.

Such an innocuous-looking plant, but it's wood had been sharpened into an arrow that had pierced the light god's chest like a hot dagger through fat, left her life's blood painted across Amity’s hands and face in a sanguine mosaic.

Amity could barely breathe over her heavy sobs, breath rushing to leave her quicker than she could take it in. She never knew anguish could run so deep as it did in her right this moment, tearing her apart from the inside.

Willow came to see her that morning, as she had every morning since she had sequestered herself to her home, and even though Amity did not speak to her, nor even look at her, the herbalist spoke of all kinds of things, such as the rebuilding of the village and her visit to the oracles, Lilith and Eda. Even the wise sisters had not heard a single word from Asgard since that fateful day, from any of the gods. They were both worried, Luz was their favorite, among the gods she was the kindest and visited them most often. The other gods were silent, no word from any of them. Even Boscha had not yet returned to her wife’s side, which was worrying. Willow didn’t speak of it though, no, it was her siblings that talked about how worried the herbalist was, though they did so very little, well aware that their sister was in mourning.

A widow before she was ever even a bride.

That stung like nothing she had ever felt before, the end of something before it could even begin. She felt Luz’s loss keenly, like the edge of a sword digging into her skin. Her siblings and Willow tried, but they didn’t know what they could do.

No one knew what to say to her, what was there to say? Words of comfort only fell on deaf ears.

Her voice feels raw, and she forces it to make a sound other than crying simply to see if she possibly can do anything but cry.

"Why?" Amity's voice cracked out of her for the first time in days that were not tears or wails of despair. "Why, Luz?" She choked aloud to herself, her hand clutching the medallion bearing the crest of light hanging from her neck against her chest; its warmth mocked her.

"I didn't deserve you, I wasn't worthy… and for what I've done the world will go without light, without summer… and I without you…," she sobbed again to herself.

Otabin laid on the floor beside her bed. The great white wolf hadn’t moved in days either, not so long as Amity remained fixed in her bed. The twins tried to feed him, but he turned his nose up at any meal. They wondered to each other, out of their sisters' earshot, if the beast missed the god as well or was simply attuned to Amity’s grief.

Four days without sleep had taken its toll on the jarl and as much as she railed against it, hoping if she stayed awake long enough she would leave the world of the living without a fight, but sleep came for her finally against even her unbendable will, one that had finally been broken to pieces.

The next time Amity woke she was disappointed to have woken up at all, but wake she did and it was because someone was in her house.

“How are you feeling?” Willow asked more out of habit than actually expecting a response, but for the first time in days, Amity graced her with one.

“I want to die…,” she rasped, throat scratchy and Willow frowned as she turned to face the jarl. “But when I do… she won’t be there… even that has been stolen from me,” she breathed as pain gripped her insides.

Willow had no answer to that.

“I brought you some food,” she tried, moving to sit in the chair she had sat at the jarls bedside. Amity turned her head away, facing the wall

Willow had tried to wait, but if Amity had her way she would waste away and be ever glad for it. She knows how much her friend is hurting, or rather, she doesn’t. She can’t imagine what Amity’s pain must be like, maybe she hadn’t seen Boscha since that fated day, but she knew her love was alive and would eventually return. Even so, she couldn't sit idly by while Amity did this to herself, so today she would try something else, even if it felt a little underhanded.

“Luz would want you to eat,” she said, and predictably Amity visibly stiffened, going stock still. Willow hated to do this, but she’d been left with little other options.

“She would hate what you’re doing to yourself, Amity. Didn’t you say that she wanted you to live, to enjoy your mortal life for all it was worth? It would hurt her to see you doing this,” Willow said softly, not trying to deepen her friend's wounds, but this was the truth; Luz would hate this. They sat silently for a long time, long enough that Willow was sure Amity would not acknowledge her again. She pushed too hard too fast. This was the first time since she and Viney had carried her back, and in near hysterics explained what had happened, that the jarl had even spoken after all.

She sighed silently and was about to stand and go when Amity moved. Carefully, she tried to sit up, but her body was weakened and she almost fell back had Willow not lunged forward to help her up.

With her sitting up, Willow finally could get a good look at her, and she imagined that Amity looked the same way she felt inside, dead. Her eyes were glassy and bloodshot with her constant tears, her hair was a mess and her skin was pallid, almost a gray color. Willow was more worried than ever, but Amity looked at the bowl of stew in her hands and the herbalist quickly handed it over, sitting it in her lap and watching carefully as Amity began to eat.

She’d had this before, it was something Willow was well known for, Amity remembered it being delicious, but It tasted ashen in her mouth. One more thing she seemed to have lost along with Luz. Her ability to enjoy anything, but she ate it just the same, because as much as it pained her, and the food sat like stones in her belly; Willow was right.

_"Because I want you to enjoy this life, here in Midgard… I want you to have these things I can't…"_

Luz would hate this.

Hate her letting herself waste away in grief and sorrow, and that, more than any hunger pains, made her force the tasteless food down her throat till the bowl was empty. When it was, Willow took it away.

Otabin sat up and laid his head on the bed, Amity looked at him as he stared up at her with his bright red eyes and the healing cut across his face. She reached out and gently rubbed her fingers through his soft white fur, his eyes closed as she did. She ran her fingers gently over the scabbed over gash and by the dried, green bits stuck in it, she knew Willow had treated him.

He’d been at her side all this time and she knew he must be hungry. She wouldn't allow him to suffer as well; she’d caused enough suffering to the ones she loved.

“Will you feed him…?” she asked quietly and Willow nodded, quickly moving to get some of the meat Edric had left sitting out the day before when he had tried to feed the war wolf.

Predictably, now that Amity had eaten he scarfed the meat down in record time before jumping into the bed and laying his head across her lap. Amity continued to comb her fingers softly through his fur. His presence was her sole comfort at this moment.

“They’ve finished a lot of the reconstruction to the buildings that were damaged, it wasn’t as bad as we feared,” Willow informed her if for no other reason than to fill the stifling silence that filled the room.

Amity nodded but didn’t look up from petting Otabin. Willow sighed but reminded herself that this was progress. She would be remiss to push too hard too fast, but it killed her to see Amity this way.

She rubbed her fingers together, trying to decide what to say. This was nothing like when Azura had died. Amity had been despondent and depressed for a time, but nothing like this. She hadn’t just laid down to die; Willow didn’t know how to help. The twins were just as clueless when she talked to them, they had tried everything they could think of to get Amity to respond.

The herbalist sighed quietly to herself, this was still progress and that was something.

“Have… you heard from Boscha?” The quiet question may as well have been a yell in the oppressive quiet of the room.

Willow’s head shot up at that.

Amity still wasn’t looking at her, but by the rigid set of her shoulders, she knew Amity was waiting for an answer.

“No,” she finally said after a moment, frowning. None of the other gods had returned to Boneshaven yet, though Boscha would probably be the first when they did. Willow desperately needed to see her after everything that had happened. If ever she needed to see the god of strength it was now. She could use some of that famous strength, it was taking everything she had to keep everything together, and it still felt like she was only holding on by threads. How desperately she needed to be comforted by the god, but till then, it had fallen on her to hold everything together as Amity laid emotionally comatose.

The twins were surprisingly, a big help. Keeping things organized and running smoothly in the village. It took some of the weight off her shoulders, but it was only growing heavier.

She hadn’t yet told Amity, but the day after the attack word had come that they hadn’t been the only ones.

Every village on the southern coast had been attacked that day, all at the same time if the accounts they had received were to be believed, and with nearly all of those villages warriors in attendance at the wedding they had been quickly overtaken by the attacking Glandis Clansmen and were now being held by them.

Their warriors had returned, only to be repelled by the new force occupying their homes and holding their families hostage.

They had been receiving word for the last two days that the warriors of their allied villages were now living in the woods and outskirts of their own homes, relegated to guerilla warfare on the invaders when they could get away with it.

Many had returned to Boneshaven, wanting to talk to Amity and ask for her and their own warrior’s aid, but she and the twins had been turning them away, telling them that the jarl was badly injured right now, but once she was well she would see them; not a lie.

Amity was injured in a sense, and in no shape to speak to anyone, much less about mounting a counter-attack to take back their allies' homes; but they couldn’t keep this up forever.

The fact of the matter was, Luz was gone, but they were still here and they needed to do something soon, or Boneshaven would fall next.

Willow sighed and looked back up at Amity, still sitting there, slowly stroking Otabin’s fur.

“Why don’t I help you outside, it’s nice today. Some sunlight might do you some good,” she suggested.

Amity visibly recoiled at the word ‘sunlight’ and Willow bit her lip but said nothing else.

“Maybe later…” she mumbled and Willow only nodded, tapping her fingers on her knees, drawing Amity’s gaze. Golden eyes fell on her ring and another pang of grief that would have brought her to her knees had she been standing shot through her. Her fingers dug into Otabin’s fur and he looked up at her, silent, concerned.

A knock on her door made them all look up as it opened and the twins’ heads popped in, looking around. Their solemn faces cheered the moment their eyes landed on Amity, sitting up in bed.

The two quickly moved to the bedside, trying to contain themselves, well aware of the still pensive air in the room.

“You’re up,” Emira said quietly, kneeling by the bed along with Edric, who smiled at her. “How do you feel?” he asked, heedless of Willow's motion not to.

“How am I supposed to answer that?” Amity asked quietly and her siblings frowned. Emira hesitated a moment before reaching out to take hold of her hand between both of hers and squeezed gently, comfortingly. Amity didn’t pull away, she squeezed back, grip almost crushing as another wave of pain washed over her and she hunched over, her other hand fisted into Otabin’s fur. The pain was almost physical in its viscerality. A sharp stabbing at her chest that stole her breath. It was like someone had cracked open her chest and carved out her heart, leaving her to bleed to death as those around her scrabbled desperately to staunch the blood flow.

Emira didn’t flinch and let it happen, only staring up at her sadly. Watching this hurt the twins too. To see Amity in so much pain and nothing they did could help. Only time could heal their little sister’s wounds and even then, they didn’t think that would ever close them completely, not this one. Another scar to bear, this one the deepest of them all and one only Amity could see.

It passed and her iron grip on Emira subsided but her sister didn’t pull her hand away, only squeezed back gently.

Amity looked up at them and all three of them were looking at her so pitifully it dug further into her mangled heart.

“I just want to be alone right now…” she finally said and the twins looked at each other, trying to decide what to do.

“Alright.” Willow stood and the twins' heads whipped to look at her, and she could tell they wanted to protest, but she gave them a hard look. She feels as they do, but they can’t push her too fast or they risk her shutting them out completely.

“Let me restart the fire for you before we go,” Edric said as he stood. “It's getting cold in here.” He moved to the firepit and doesn't see the way Amity tensed again, reaching up to grab the medallion hanging from her neck. Its constant warmth was taunting and she gripped it hard.

Emira and Willow see and share a worried look.

Once the fire was blazing once more they left, though reluctantly and Willow had to almost push them out.

“Just let us know if you need anything,” Emira said over her shoulder before she and Edric walked out the door, Willow behind them. She stopped in the doorway to look once more at Amity, sitting in bed with Otabin’s head in her lap.

“I’ll be back to check on you in the morning,” Were her parting words before the door closed. Amity sighed in relief to be alone again, or at least as much relief as she was capable of at the moment.

She didn’t know how long she sat there, absentmindedly running her hands through the white wolf's fur and clutching her medallion, soaking up its everlasting warmth, but the next time she looked up it was nearly dark outside, the dim fire the only light in the room.

She glanced around her home and couldn’t help but take notice of every touch that its former part-time occupant had left behind.

On shaky legs she pushed Otabin gently aside and climbed out of bed, her legs threatened to buckle, but they stayed strong as she walked for the first time in days, moving around her home toward a wall lined with shelves.

Little bobbles and bits sat on the shelves, things Luz had brought her back from other faraway parts of Midgard when she was away doing her duties. A figure carved in bone of a warrior in battle, it’s polished ivory gleamed in the firelight. Beside it, a clay pot in a pale blue color with what Luz had said was a dragon painted on the side in darker blue, but unlike the dragon’s Amity knew, this one was long and serpentine with whiskers. Luz had brought it back from some faraway place she could only describe that had sounded so strange to the jarl.

Next to that was a comb, whittled from some dark wood she had gifted the jarl last summer, it was smooth and ornate, with little bright green gems embedded into the handle. Her hand reached up to pick it up but stopped short and hesitated, hovering in the air before a flash of pain made it drop back down to her side. She turned away from the shelf and was met with yet another reminder as she turned to the blank wall.

Or at least, what had once been a blank wall.

Now it was a bright painting of the sea, longships, with crimson sails afloat bright blue water and white-crested waves in front of a brilliant orange and blush-colored sunset.

She remembered the day Luz had painted it.

_She’d been gone for a few days, battling the first wave of invaders that had appeared on the southern Isle._

_Amity was bone-weary, she’d seldom fought such vicious attackers and her mouth still vaguely tasted of blood from when she'd taken a round shield to the face. He may have gotten the hit on her, but she was still alive, while his body had been left on the beach to rot or be eaten by birds._

_Her whole body ached and all she wanted to do was lay in bed for the next two days and sleep. If she were lucky, Luz would be home and she could snuggle into the gods' warm embrace for the duration of that time._

_It was that thought that kept her trudging up the hill toward her home with Otabin at her side._

_She opened the door and the wolf darted past her, heading straight for his bed of hay when he stopped and made a hard right turn running excitedly across the floor at something Amity couldn't yet see._

_She stepped further in and saw what he saw._

_"Otabin, down!" Luz laughed, pushing the wolf off her as he tried to lick her face in greeting. when she managed to push him back down she looked up and smiled brightly._

_"My champion hath returned!" Luz threw up her arms and quickly crossed the floor to wrap the warrior in her arms. Amity grinned as she was enveloped in the deity's ever-present warmth and instantly felt herself relaxing into the embrace._

_"I'm glad you're back," Luz hummed in her ear as she held her close. Amity squeezed her back just as tightly._

_“I’m glad to be back,” Amity mumbled into her chest._

_When she finally pulled back she looked up and stopped._

_“Why is your face covered in paint?" She asked, cocking a brow at the different colors smeared across Luz's face._

_"Huh?" she reached out to touch her face and pulled her hand back to look at the paint now staining the tips of her fingers. "Oh," she laughed. "I got myself a little project while you were gone," she said._

_"Dare I ask?" Amity smirked at her._

_"Well…," Luz's eyes flickered to something at her right but before Amity could look a hand was covering her eyes._

_"Huh?… Luz…" she started but then the god was nudging her in a certain direction._

_"When you see it for the first time I want you to get a good look at it," was the cryptic explanation as she moved Amity through the house and then turned her._

_"Okay!" She pulled her hand away and Amity blinked._

_Her once blank wall was now painted with a large oceanscape of the sea at sunset, complete with several sailing ships._

_It was large, bright, and beautiful, though she was confused._

_"Well, what do you think?" Luz asked, unable to keep the suspense from her voice._

_"You did this?" Is the first question out of her mouth as she turned to look at Luz._

_"Yeah!" She grinned at her and it was almost blinding in its intensity._

_"It's beautiful, Luz… but why?" she couldn't help but ask._

_"Ah, well…," she hummed, reaching up to scratch the back of her head sheepishly. "I just thought maybe when you come back from long days of battles you might want something relaxing to look at instead of just the blank wall…," she trailed off as Amity continued to look at her with wide surprised eyes. "I should have asked you first…" she suddenly said, doubting herself. "I shouldn't have, I'm so-" Amity cut her off with a hand on her cheek. Luz looked down at her, both brows hiked up in surprise as the jarl looked up at her adoringly._

_"It's beautiful, Luz and I love it," she said. "I love you, especially."_

_Luz beamed at her as Amity raised up on her toes to kiss her._

Her fingers ran gently over the long dried paint; her chest ached.

Amity took a shuddering breath and stepped back from the wall. Her other hand pressed to her chest over the medallion and her heart. She turned and her foot caught in something.

She looked down and her breath hitched in her lungs.

Luz’s clothes, they still sat in a pile on the floor from after when she'd taken her bath. Her white tunic and tattered violet cloak undisturbed since.

She hesitated a moment before she reached down and picked up the worn material and pressed the tunic to her face, taking a deep breath.

Even after five days it still carried Luz's scent.

Warmth was really the only way she could describe it. Like a breeze on a warm summer day. Earth and plants and something else so uniquely Luz.

She didn't even realize she had begun to cry again until the material began to grow damp against her face, that was all it took. She pressed it harder to her face and sobbed into the material, fingers clenched into it for dear life as she sank to her knees and wept fresh tears.

She didn't even hear or feel Otabin pad over and lean his large, furry body against her, trying to provide his master comfort the only way he could.

It was well and truly dark when her tears had finished. The worn, white tunic was soaked with them and she carefully set it back down.

Otabin made a grunting noise and Amity looked at him with red-rimmed eyes as she reached up to scratch his ears.

He probably needed to go out, and every little reminder of Luz within these walls dug sharply at Amity; she needed out.

She slowly climbed to her feet and with careful movements, trying not to look at anything, lest she break down into tears again. She moved to her bed and pulled on her boots.

Otabin watched her with rapt interest.

She stood and on instinct moved to grab her ax from where it hung and stopped, looking at the intricate blade bearing the sigil of light. Yet another touch of Luz in her life, she was especially pained at the sight of the pristine, violet cloak that hung next to it. A wedding gift for a wedding that was never to be.

She quickly turned away at the sharp ache that reverberated through her and quickly grabbed a torch and lit it in the fire before walking out with Otabin on her heels.

The village was dark and quiet save the far-off murmur of people. She could see a few large groups of men, warriors it seemed, huddled around several fires and her brows furrowed but she paid them little mind as she walked down the hill and around the buildings. She had no destination in mind, she simply could not bear another moment in her house.

Not her home... not anymore. Her heart's true home had been a pair of arms and a bright smile, and that place was gone now; forever beyond her reach.

She walked without purpose, content to let her legs carry her where they would

She could see the damage that had been done and luckily it was minimal, and it seemed they had already gone a long way in making their repairs.

She was glad for that, though the feeling is muted and dull. Glad is something she is incapable of at this moment. In truth, it felt like she would never be happy again. How could she when joy had died in her arms.

Her steps faltered and she took a deep, shuddering breath but quickly resumed her trek.

This walk had no purpose, yes she felt compelled to take it just the same.

She rounded a corner and found herself in an isolated section of the village, the faraway fires didn't reach here, but her torch lit up the area.

She stopped and looked up at the sky above, filled with thousands upon thousands of bright pinpricks of light.

Stars.

Bright and twinkling, they blanketed a canvas of dark blues and blacks, speckled with ribbons and pools of white weaved throughout.

Her fist clenched around the torch, wood biting into the palm of her hand. It seemed that she could go nowhere without the ghost of Luz hovering over her, everything reminded her of her love.

She couldn’t help it, couldn’t stop herself, as her eyes scanned the world above they were drawn to a certain section of the sky and a bright, green-tinted star in particular.

"Grøn skeggøx," the words passed between her lips, nothing more than a breath of a whisper as she wondered how long, without Luz, till the stars all went out, leaving even the heavens above dark and empty. She stared up at it a long time, a public and yet so private declaration of love from Luz to her. Once more tears slipped effortlessly past her eyes to slide down her cheeks, raw from her constant weeping.

She wiped at them violently and let out a trembling sigh.

“Come, Otabin,” she called and turned to go but a noise gave her pause. Otabin heard it too and his ears pricked up, swiveling toward it, Amity listened carefully and it didn't take her more than a moment to come to a solid conclusion

Crying.

Somewhere not far in front of her in the darkness, someone was crying. But she could tell, it wasn't just anyone crying. The sounds were small, a child.

One of the village children was out here in the dark, crying.

After the many times, her own cries had been ignored as a child, Amity was compelled forward, searching. Otabin trotted ahead a few feet, searching as well before he stopped, looking at something in the darkness.

Amity raised her torch and its light landed on a small, familiar form.

“Braxus,” the name slipped past her lips and the boy looked up, eyes red and full of tears as he gazed up at her.

"J-jarl Amity…," he hiccuped. Amity stepped forward and knelt down in front of the boy.

"What are you doing out here alone, Braxus, what's the matter?" She wiped at his face.

"I…," he sniffled and wiped hard at his eyes, but tears only continued to fall. It tugged at Amity's already taut heartstrings and she dug the end of her torch into the ground to stand, and pulled the boy into her arms, letting him weep into her chest for a time before he could calm himself to speak.

"What's the matter?" Amity asked him again.

"My… my father didn't come back today from the other village," he mumbled and wiped at his snotty nose.

"What village, where did your father go?" Amity frowned.

"One of the… other villages that were attacked by the same people that attacked us," He sniffled. "My father volunteered to help them take back their village, but… he didn't come back with them," he choked. "They… they said he was in Valhalla now, " His tears began anew and Amity has no idea what to say, what had happened while she had been in secluded mourning?

Eventually, he fell asleep in her arms and she quickly took him back to his home, where his mother, tearily confirmed his story and now, in the center of the village, Amity can see them all. She knows all the clan colors she sees scattered around the village square. Their allies from the other coastal villages.

She had many questions, and she knew who could answer them.

Willow quickly opened her door, still half asleep as Amity pushed her way inside.

"Amity!? You're up! What are you…"

"What has been happening?" the jarl demanded before her friend could even finish her question.

Willow sighed tiredly.

She spent the next half hour explaining everything that had been happening over the last four days. The raids that had taken place at the same time as the one here in Boneshaven and how Glandis, Hel’s adherents had seized all the other villages along the coast, forcing their warriors to remain on the outskirts or seek safe haven here in their own village.

"Why didn't you tell me?!" Amity demanded and Willow frowned.

"Today was the first time since …since that day that you've eaten or even spoken, Amity. What did you want me to do?" Willow asked her.

Amity's fists clenched.

Willow was right, but that didn't change how she felt.

Her grief was there, a deep, constant ache in her chest but it was now being drowned out by something louder.

Rage.

White hot and scorching beneath every inch of her skin. Boiling and bubbling in the pit of her stomach like molten iron.

It wasn't enough.

It wasn't enough to take her love. To rip her apart from the inside out. Now he was taking everything from everyone else; from her people

No.

Amity refused.

Luz had wanted her to live her life, so she would. She wouldn't lay in bed wasting away in grief another moment.

She would do what she had always done, the one thing she knew.

Amity would fight. Fight until every Glandis warrior on the southern island laid dead, or she did, whichever came first it did not matter to her.

Maybe she couldn't stop it, but she'd be damned if she just laid down another moment and let it happen unchallenged.

Belos wanted war.

Amity would give him one.


	22. Chapter 22

The plan was simple enough in theory.

Amity would lead her warriors and their allies to their closest neighbors a few miles to the east of them and take it back, with brutal force. The Glandis warriors did not take prisoners and did not allow themselves to be taken prisoner, which suited Amity fine.

She had no intention of taking any.

Anyone bearing the colors of Glandis or the sigil of Hel would die if they crossed their path. She’d fight them in every village on every island or in any of the nine realms till they all lay dead or she did, whichever came first. 

Would Luz hate this? Yes, of that she was most certain, but the fact of the matter was, Luz was gone, and as much as it tore at her heart to think the words, that was the cold truth of it all. 

Her lover was gone, but Amity was here, and if she did nothing, neither she nor anyone else would be here much longer. 

What Belos had said was true, it was summer, yet it felt like Autumn was upon them, cooler and cooler winds were blowing over the island every day.

As much as she wanted to, they couldn't leave right away. She was weakened from days in bed, not eating or sleeping and it took two days for her to be in near well enough condition to go, though neither of her siblings wanted her to. They begged her to send the warriors but for her to stay. Amity just shook her head. 

They needed her to lead them, which was true, but more than that, Amity wanted vengeance. 

Wanted to make them hurt as much as she did, though she was positive that such a thing was impossible.

White-hot rage and grief were a heady mix that bubbled over inside her, demanded to be satisfied and the only thing that could possibly do that was blood. 

For every drop of blood that had stained her hands and clothes that day, a gruesome painting on her skin, Amity would bleed a follower of Hel, and send them straight to the god they so exalted in the dark world of Niflheim. 

When she appeared before the village for the first time in five days she was nearly mobbed by all the warriors clamoring to speak to her at once. Willow’s loud whistle had brought order to the unruly warriors before she shouted that she would speak to all of them and that each village would send two of their own to all speak with her at once.

Seven villages outside of Boneshaven made their homes along the coastal area of the southernmost Isle of the Boiling Isles, and so fourteen warriors, along with Amity and Willow had convened for hours as they discussed the plan moving forward and it was thus: They would start here, in the west and make their way eastward along the coast, liberating the villages one at a time and leaving a strong defense behind them. 

Those from the villages to the far east were understandably distressed that it would be a time yet before they could reclaim their homes but were quieted by Amity's reassurances and the stony look on her face when she told them that they would not stop until the Southern Isle was free of every last Glandis invader, till they’d painted the sands and forests of the Southern Isle in their enemies blood. They stomped and roared in agreement, as eager as her. 

Over the two days Amity was recovering they planned and packed, preparing themselves.

Only half of the Boneshaven warriors would go with them, they couldn't afford to leave their own home unprotected.

What surprised Amity was when Willow declared she would go with them. 

"I may not exactly be a warrior, but I can fight, and if all of you are going to fight you're going to need patching up at one point or another," she said with a shrug when Amity questioned her.

"Viney will be with us and the other village warriors have some healers among them," Amity argued. She knew better than most that Willow was quite capable of defending herself, she'd seen the herbalist smash in more than a few skulls over the years, but Willow was her closest friend, and Amity was sure that she could not stand another loss; she was still not sure she could stand this one. 

"I'm going," Willow said, it wasn't up for debate and Amity did not have it in her to argue with her longtime friend.

The morning they set out to leave was a hard one for Amity. Not so much because she was going off to battle, she'd long gotten used to that, mentally preparing herself for the coming fights. No, the hard thing was staring back at her from its’ hooks.

Her ax and the bright, violet cloak.

The color was so vibrant, lively, and familiar. Memories of Luz were weaved into its very existence. She reached out and took it from the hook. The smooth fabric was soft and light against her fingers, the same as the day Luz had draped it over her shoulders, looking at her with that lovestruck expression that Amity knew was always reflected in her own face whenever she looked up at Luz, but especially then, as she explained the intent of her gift to her, smiling and brushing her fingers against her cheek.

She pinned it around her shoulders and its’ light but solid weight was comforting, almost like the god's arms wrapped around her shoulders as they had so many times before. It seemed this was the closest she would ever come again. It would never be the same, nothing ever would, but it would have to be enough.

It brought her comfort but simultaneously it dug at her; most things that reminded her of Luz did. It cradled her heart, but in a grip much too tight; comfort and grief in equal measure.

She sighed to herself and finally picked up her ax, its familiar weight grasped in her hand. The sigil shined brightly in the light coming in through her window.

It hurt, but the pain was fuel to the fire that had been ignited within her. Bright, burning flames of righteous fury and indignation that she only continued to feed every time something reminded her of Luz, which was often. Any time that hurt sparked inside her the flames grew brighter and hotter.

A cleansing, purifying heat she hoped would burn away her misery, but deep inside she knew it was not to be. Instead, they would devour her from the inside out till a shell remained, she would let it; had not the strength to stop it.

Her grip on the ax was white-knuckled and the leather squeaked in her grip before it loosened and she fixed it to her belt as she took one last look around the longhouse. She didn’t know when or even if she would ever return, battle was always uncertain, and these will be more so than any others she’d fought in the past.

Her eyes swept over the shelf of bits Luz had brought her and the painting on the wall. Her eyes lingered on it’s bright, beautiful colors that felt so wrong now in this dreary place.

She reached up and fingered her medallion, its ever-present warmth on her fingertips. She brought the metal to her lips, the warmth similar to one she had known before but not quite the same as she laid a kiss on its surface.

“I’m sorry,” she mumbled aloud to herself before turning and walking out.

Otabin waited for her outside, laying in the grass when she walked past and he jumped up quickly to follow her down the hill toward the warriors waiting at the gate, clamoring to leave.

She could hear them even from here, eager to move out and cleanse the island of the parasites that had latched on.

Her brother and sister met her halfway, they didn’t want to be in the way of all the aggravated and eager warriors. Edric had already been expelled from their gatherings a few times in the past.

“Are you sure you need to do this?” Emira asked as they fell into step beside her and the white wolf.

“Yeah, Viney can lead them almost as well as you,” Edric jumped in, ignoring the look his twin shot him as he so easily volunteered her own lover for the dangerous battles ahead.

“No, they need me… and I need to go…,” she mumbled the last bit to herself. She loved her siblings and this village, her only remaining home in all the nine worlds, but everywhere she looked, memories of times she and Luz had been together smacked her in the face with a powerful, painful force. They’d been over every inch of this village together over the last three years and it was suffocating her. 

“Are you…,” Emira started.

“I’m sure!” Amity snapped, rounding on the two of them. They jerked, coming to a stop in the middle of the path. They both looked at her with hurt faces and Amity took a shuddering breath. It wasn’t their fault, but it wasn't just the village making her feel smothered. Ever since she’d gotten up, the two had been on her heels. She knew it was just because they cared and they were worried, but Amity was suffocating under their worry.

“I have to go, you two will be okay,” she said with a small smile, careful not to make a mention of herself. 

“It’s not us we’re worried about.” Edric frowned, and his brows furrowed between his eyes as he leveled her with a hard look. “We know you, know how you throw yourself into things, and ever since Luz di-” Emira’s hand on his shoulder stopped the rest of that ill thought out sentence and he grimaced to himself. If ever there was a wrong thing to say to their sister at that moment it would have been that. 

“We know you’re still hurting, Amity,” she started softly. “We just don’t want you to do anything rash…” she said and Amity frowned and turned from the two to look at Otabin, looking up at her with bright red eyes. 

“I’ll do what I have to. Whatever that is; to make things right.” Is the simple and resolute answer. 

The twins shared a look. They knew that nothing they said now will change her mind. Instead, they wrapped her up in a tight embrace on both sides.

“We love you.”

“So be careful.”

Amity let her eyes slide closed and soaked up their warmth for a moment before she gently extracted herself from their hold. 

“I love you too,” was her answer before she continued down the path toward the gate with Otabin trotting along at her side. The twins didn’t follow, they just watched her go with mirror expressions of worry.

Willow and Viney were waiting for her when she arrived, dressed in their own gear. Willow’s crimson cloak is familiar, and the fact that it had several large rips and tears at the bottom told her that it belonged to a tall redhead rather than her. Her mace hung at her side along with a pack filled with herbs, bandages, and other supplies. 

Viney was standing at her side, arms crossed and it was the first time Amity had seen her since that fated day. She now sported a champion brand on the back of her right hand. Mjolnir in a circle; Boscha had chosen her. Her hand started to rise, too move to the sigil of light that marked her own skin, but she stopped and forced it back to her side. No warmth emanated from the mark, not anymore. Now it was another scar upon her body, a reminder of a wound she had suffered and lived to bear. 

“Are we ready to head out?” she asked and the two nodded.

With a force as large as this one, stealth was not much of an option, at least not during the day. They moved quickly through the forests, the cool winds whipping at their cloaks.

As they traveled away from the village, she could see it now. Along with the cool wind and air that had replaced the humid air and hot atmosphere of late Summer the trees already appeared to be sagging, the way they did at the start of autumn when cold began to nip at them. The edges of the occasional leaf already had begun to curl inward.

Amity frowned to herself as they moved along. Everywhere she looked the signs of summer's early flight from the world were apparent. Even the cicadas had ceased their songs and the normally loud buzz of bugs was quiet. 

It took them some hours to trudge their force through the still thick woods, keeping away from the more well-known paths and the beaches. They would be easier to traverse but make them easier to spot as well, their greatest asset would be surprise. 

They stopped a mile from the village and made a temporary camp to prepare as they waited for the scout she had sent ahead. The atmosphere of the camp was quiet and tense, especially for the clan that was eager to take back their home, their families still held within. Once the scout returned it was to recount that a small force of only about thirty Glandis Clansmen were holding the village. They would attack after nightfall after the drinking had started in full. Belos wasn’t the only one who could use the gluttonous desires of mortals as a battle tactic. 

Amity bided her time sharpening her ax as Viney and Willow sat at her side. Willow dug through her bag, checking the state of her supplies as Viney fiddled with her spear.  
As her fingers scraped the whetstone across the edge of the blade, Amity couldn’t help but let her eyes fall on the symbol for light emblazoned deeply and smoothly into the head of the weapon, prominently for all to see. 

She couldn’t escape it. In three years her life had become so intrinsically woven together with Luz’s that she hadn’t even noticed how the deity had touched every facet of her life with her warmth and presence. Only now, that each touch was a painful reminder rather than one of comfort and affection did she take notice of every way light had touched her life. 

With slightly trembling fingers she gently ran the digits over the sigil engraved into the side of the blade and felt that familiar, yearning grief begin to bubble up once more as her fingers traced every familiar line she would know even were she blind; it was forever engraved in her soul. 

Willow and Viney both noticed how quiet Amity had gone and glanced at the jarl from the corner of their eyes before they caught each other's gaze. No one was sure what to say to her at times like these when they could see the pain begin to strain her features. Neither of them could even begin to imagine what it felt like, not only to lose someone you loved but to hold them in your arms while they bled to death; Amity had done it twice now.

“How exactly are we going to do this?” Viney asked, drawing the jarl's gaze and the distressed look faded as she looked up at her, face turning thoughtful, much to the other two’s relief.

“We're going to break into groups and attack from multiple sides. The warriors from the village told me that there were three secret entrances into the village outside the main gate. We’ll come in from those first and when they rush to meet them the rest of our force will come in through the unguarded main gate. We’ll spread them thin and wipe them out a section at a time. If they’ve taken all the villages along the coast then surely their forces are spread thin.” 

“They were only able to take them because they were totally defenseless.” Willow nodded along. 

“And once entrenched in the village it was easy to keep it with such a small force, using the village's defenses against its own warriors,” Viney grunted, her grip on her spear tightened. “It’s still going to be a long campaign. That's seven villages that need our help, and we don’t know anything about the situation in the other six, and if they should get word to them…” she trailed off.

“That’s why we kill them all. Every last one of them,” Amity’s low voice bit out as she stood, fixing her ax back in its place on her belt. The sun was still fairly high and she was still trying to catch up on days of sleeplessness. “I’m going to take a nap,” she mumbled and the two shared a look as she walked off.

Amity settled herself beneath the boughs of a tree, the bright green leaves filtered out the sunlight that tried to shine into her eyes. The warmth on her skin felt almost hollow. And she closed her eyes against it.

Its warmth was almost painful.

_The river water was cool, but not too cold as she sat on the bank, bare feet kicking gently through the water._

_She looked around at the trees swinging gently in the breeze thoughtfully. Why was she here?_

_She couldn't remember._

_Everything felt fuzzy and distant._

_"Mind some company?"_

_Amity looked up and broke out into a wide smile as Luz walked through the tree line, grinning at her._

_"You? I never mind." She smiled as Luz walked over and plopped herself down into the grass and began pulling off her boots, but not before leaning over to lay a brief kiss on the jarls lips._

_"Where have you been?"_

_"Ah, King and the Dwarves again," Luz huffed as she rolled her eyes and dipped her feet into the water beside Amity. “He just can’t help himself…” She shook her head. The jarl snorted as she leaned into her shoulder and let her head drop there. Luz's leaned on hers._

_"I missed you," she hummed as the god wrapped an arm around her back._

_“I missed you too, my light," she murmured back._

_Warm._

_Amity was warm, she always was when Luz held her tight like this. Amity snuggled in further and the god of light chuckled and obliged her with a soft squeeze. Amity reached over, laying a hand on the god's chest. Even though the tunic she can feel the ever-constant warmth that emanated from Luz’s being. Soft and comforting, an innate part of her being and something Amity privately adored. She only ever spoke to Luz about it, and even then, they were quiet, half-asleep mumblings into her ear as they laid curled up together in bed._

_She wasn't sure how long they sat there, listening to the birds and the quiet hum of the cicadas in the background, wrapped up quietly in each other; content. She could sit here forever though and be happy._

_The sound of rustling in the bushes behind them made Amity open her eyes and sit up, hand falling away from the place above the god's heart where she’d been keeping tabs on her heartbeat, beneath her palm._

_“What is it?” Luz looked at her curiously._

_“I don’t…,” Amity started and turned to look over her shoulder and froze._

_Half hidden in the shadows of the trees was the silhouette of a black-cloaked warrior wearing a helm, but what made her heart seize in her chest was the drawn bow, notched with an arrow that she knew, just knew was made of mistletoe._

_Amity scrambled to her feet._

_The bowstring twanged and Amity didn't even think about it, she just threw herself into the path of the incoming projectile._

_She felt it painfully pierce her flesh, sinking into her heart._

Amity bolted upright, heaving for breath and heart beating wildly against her ribs as she looked around wildly. Her hand shot up, to clutch at her chest and the medallion hanging from her neck.

She was still lying beneath the tree, the warm sunlight had moved toward the horizon and painted the sky bright oranges and pinks.

There was no arrow jutting out of her torso, no river or forest.

No Luz.

It was a dream; a nightmare. 

Pain now bloomed in her chest, hot and sharp. However, this time, it was very real.

She grit her teeth as tears welled up in her eyes.

If she closed her eyes she could still feel it. The warmth of Luz at her side, the phantom feeling of her arm wrapped around her waist lingered as she got her breathing back under control.

"Shit," she hissed vehemently under her breath.

Even in her sleep, she couldn't escape the pain of reality.

"Amity!"

The jarl’s head jerked up at the call and she turned to see Willow coming out of the trees.

"It's almost time… are you alright?" she asked, frowning as she noticed the tears in the warriors' eyes and the hard, stiff-lined ridges of her body.

"I'm fine," she mumbled as she quickly stood and started walking in the direction the herbalist had come from.

"Are you…" Willow started, but the hard look her friend shot at her made her jaw snap shut. Willow silently watched her pass as she stomped hurriedly back toward camp.

Willow sighed silently to herself as she turned to follow her jarl.

~ ~

The village was quiet when they arrived, mostly. They could hear some raucous chatter and cheering and Amity’s grip on her ax tightened as they waited, squatted down in the woods outside the village. The other three groups had already moved to enter the village and Amity would lead the bulk of them through the main gate.

The tension in the air was palpable as they awaited the signal to attack. Even with the cool air around them, Willow’s hands were sweaty, wrapped tightly around the mace her wife had given her. For something she’d planned to sit in her home, hardly ever used, it had already seen much too much use. The moon hung low overhead, only just started its ascent into the heavens.

It didn't take long before the screaming and yelling started and the few warriors stationed at the front gates turned and rushed into the village; it was time.

With a gravelly battle cry, they rushed the gates and the warriors just inside turned to them and rushed back to meet them, until the bulk of their force was revealed, then they were running again in the opposite direction.

It didn’t save them though.

If ever Amity had seen a one-sided battle, it was this one.

They slaughtered them in sprays of blood and screams of agony, leaving not one of them behind.

They tried to barricade themselves inside homes and buildings, even climb the village walls but no one managed to escape the onslaught as they were in some cases drug out of the buildings and shot from the walls with arrows, dead before they even hit the ground. 

Amity had never particularly relished battle, it had always simply been a necessary part of life on the Isles, where everything was a matter of survival of the fittest. Those who could take what they needed, survived, those who couldn’t, did not. That had been ingrained into her from childhood. She did what needed to be done and took no extra sense of joy or pleasure from it, it was simply a fact of life for them.

This was different.

She enjoyed this. 

Every warrior wearing the Glandis colors was cut down without hesitation or mercy, slicing off limbs and burying the blade of her ax as deeply into their flesh as her strength allowed, cleaving it from the bone. Every time one dropped to the ground, dead or dying in pools of their own blood, something dark and angry only surged upward within her, demanding more and more. Pushing her forward with a manic energy that buzzed beneath her skin.

She dodged the swing of a sword and brought her ax down, slicing his arm off at the elbow and slamming the shaft into his nose, the crunching sound and the screaming that followed only incited her further as he fell to the ground, writhing. 

That rage that had been simmering in her belly for two days was now a molten inferno, erupting on the surface and setting her nerves aflame as she forwent her ax and stomped on his skull, over and over until his face was an unrecognizable mass of flesh and blood. He’d long stopped moving but Amity was incapable of stopping at this point and only turned away when another Glandis warrior came running at her. 

A deep, guttural sound tore out of her throat as she charged at him, ax swung back.

She felt the tip of his sword bite into her skin, but nothing could stop the swing of her ax as it buried itself to the shaft in his gut before ripping it free with a mighty jerk, only to swing it again, and again as she hacked him to bits, blood splattering her whole front in a gruesome spray of scarlet. 

Only when her energy was expended and no more warriors charged at her did Amity finally stop. Her heart was hammering in her chest and all she could hear was the pounding of blood in her ears, drowning out all other sounds. 

What lay before her, a pile of bloodied clothes and flesh was hardly a person anymore as she hunched over, panting and hands fisted around the shaft of her ax; all she could see was red. 

Red everywhere, blood on her hands and clothes, just as it had been that day as well. 

“Amity, the village has been cleared, are you…” Willow’s voice stopped cold as she looked at the jarl with wide, shocked eyes. 

The herbalist was no stranger to battle, nor death and blood, but the sight of Amity, standing over several mutilated enemies was something she doubted she would ever be able to forget, especially when Amity looked up at her, not really appearing to see her. Her whole front was soaked red and the twisted snarl and dead-eyed expression carved into her face sent a chill running down Willow’s spine.

“Amity…”

The second call seemed to get through to her and Amity blinked, looking at Willow.

“W-what did you say?” Amity asked, voice low and distant, as though just waking.

“The village has been cleared, we won,” she said, watching as Amity stood up straight, the hand holding her ax dropped to her side limply and she nodded tiredly. 

“Good… good,” she mumbled. 

Later, Willow wasn’t sure if she was relieved or not to find that little of the blood staining Amity’s face, hands or clothes, was her own. 

They gathered in the village square and the grateful villagers fed and cleaned their wounds, which Amity expected. What caught her off guard was when they toasted and cheered their victory.

“Many thanks to the great god of light and sun for this glorious victory over the bastards from the east! To Baldur!” A large warrior with braids in his beard and a shaved head called over the din and loud cries followed. “To Baldur!” 

She could feel Willow and Viney’s eyes on her, but that didn't stop the prickling of tears in the corners of her own eyes as the village cheered and exalted the god of light and joy.

“To Baldur!” echoed again through the great hall.

“For you, Luz,” The jarl mumbled to herself as she gripped her flagon tightly. 

~ ~

They left first thing at dawn, heading east to the next village with a handful of those from their newly freed allies of the village of Redstone to go with them, determined to help the rest of their allies liberate their homes from the invaders. To send them all running from the Southern Isle on the funeral pyres.

This journey is much like the one that came before, though it ended up becoming more exciting than they had anticipated. 

They were halfway there, near mid-afternoon when an ambush led by a black-cloaked warrior gave them pause. While the small force was easily dealt with, Amity couldn’t understand how they’d been discovered. They had been so careful not to let any of the Glandis warriors escape.

The frustration only fed the inferno inside her and the rest of the trek she was irritable and snippy with everyone that tried to speak to her. 

Viney and Willow decided to give her space while they sat outside the village waiting for nightfall. After the ambush everyone was tense - they doubted they would have the element of surprise this time. This would be a slog of brute force to gain entry into the village. 

They were about to set out when a warrior joined her in her secluded little corner of camp where Viney and Willow had left her to stew. 

“A great battle awaits us, Jarl.” Amity looked up from cleaning all the dried blood off her ax as a large familiar warrior plopped down on the rock in front of her. He was large, close to Hooty’s size, his dark beard braided into a single, thick plait. She’d seen him many times over the last few years, he was the second to the Jarl of Redstone. He had got two flagons in his hands and sat them on the ground at his feet. 

She hummed in response, nodding as he dug through a pouch on his belt.

“I went foraging for some useful herbs and managed to find some!” he boisterously said. “I figure you could use some.” He held up a hand and between his fingers was a familiar looking plant.

“Hensbane…,” Amity said as she looked at the berserker plant.

“Aye, how furious you fought last night, I figured we could end the whole war in a day with this!” he laughed. 

Amity pursed her lips, looking at the veined, yellow, and violet flower. Memories of the last time she’d had it surfacing. 

“I don’t…,” she started but he waved a hand.

“I know, I know, you’re a staunch adherent of Baldur,” he said and Amity frowned, fist tightening around the shaft of her weapon. “For all his great blessings though we should still make use of the other gods’ gifts to us. A good, strong berserker drought before this battle couldn’t hurt!” he said, rolling one of the plants between his hands, breaking it up to bits before dropping it into the two cups and handing one to Amity, who hesitated a moment before taking it.

“To victory and the gods, your patron and mine, light and strength!” He held up the mug. Her grip on the flagon tightened.

“To light,” she agreed. A wave of familiar anger began to rise to the surface. They both tipped them back till they were empty.

Then they were off to battle.

There’s more resistance here than there was at Redstone, perhaps seventy and they were ready. They still outnumbered them by nearly half, and the time for stealth had passed. They battered at the gates till they smashed through them, shields raised to avoid and block the arrows raining down on them until they broke through. Just as they rushed through the gates, she could feel it. Then Amity’s world turned red. 

The next time she returned to herself the battle was over and she stood among a slew of bodies, wearing the Glandis colors, though they’re so covered in dark, drying blood it was almost hard to tell. She herself was stained just as red, as was her ax. 

~ ~ 

After freeing the second village things slow. She didn’t know how, but he knew.

Belos knew what she was doing and soon it wasn’t little ambushes but full-scale battles taking place in the fields and sands of the coast. He was sending more, but the warriors from Glandis had to sail a two-day journey across the sea to reach them, and that gave them time between battles to regroup and make headway. A few other warriors from the island had begun to join them as the days passed, the coastal villages were the first line of defense for the Southern Isle and if they all fell, the rest would follow. Those further inland had begun to send those they could spare to aid in the battles against their invaders. 

Two weeks into the fighting Willow and Viney discovered her near-constant use of hensbane in battle when she ran into the herbalist while out looking for the plant.

She was always angry, but that wasn’t the plant, though it’s rage-inducing effects did not help her frame of mind and only furthered the mouth-frothing rage she felt as she cut down every enemy that stood in her path with startling ferocity and brutality. 

She fought wildly, plowing through enemies without thought, and no matter what kind of injuries she sustained she wouldn’t stop or stay down, even when her own blood-stained her clothes as much as her enemies. 

Willow had to patch her wounds constantly and use the sap Boscha had given them to keep her going, she wouldn’t have if they didn’t need her to lead them. The warriors respected Amity above all others, both for her tactics and battle prowess.

She used it on the other warrior’s more serious wounds when they weren’t paying attention to what she was doing. Both of them had become somewhat legendary on the field of battle. Amity for her ferocious fighting and Willow for her unparalleled healing skill.

The herbalist was more than a little worried though. Where once Amity was depressed and despondent, flinching at every mention of light or Luz, now she just seemed to be constantly angry and bitter. She lived to fight Hel’s adherents and nothing more. Willow could see it in her face every time they went to battle. The way she fought without care for her own safety or wellbeing, rushing headlong into every fight. 

Amity didn’t care if she lived or died.

All that mattered to her was making them pay for what they had done to her; for what they had done to Luz.

It was painful to watch, and after three weeks Willow couldn’t bear to silently watch it anymore. 

A message arrived for them two days before they were due to do battle again. Boneshaven had been attacked. It seemed they hadn’t suffered any deaths but some sections of the village had been badly damaged and a number injured. 

“We need to tell Amity…,” Viney mumbled after the messenger had left. The stout warrior looked nervous, shuffling her feet in the dirt. Willow didn’t blame her. Amity was nothing if not short-tempered anymore and having conversations with her was difficult. She was short and clipped with most people; aggravated by every little thing. No one wanted to be the one to deliver this news to her. 

Willow sighed.

“I’ll do it,” she said and Viney looked at her, unsure, but Willow just waved a hand. They were the only two she didn’t outright snap at on sight anymore. The warriors respected her prowess on the battlefield and followed her unquestionably, but they were also very wary of her now. The calm, personable attitude Amity had been known and loved for was gone, she gave orders and left no room for discussion or argument, with anyone. Going as far as coming to blows with a warrior from the village of Kransborg over when and where they should set up patrol stations when they had been entrenched in a valley the week before.

Amity had beaten him bloody and only spit blood out of her mouth angrily when she and Viney had tried to talk to her about it. 

It seemed Luz’s death had stolen so much more than they’d thought. 

She found the jarl alone, chopping wood for camp when she approached. Otabin was lying nearby beneath a tree, watching, his head laid across his paws. He looked serene but Willow knew the wolf could jump at a moment's notice and rip a man's throat out. 

“Amity?” she called. The jarl looked up before returning to the task at hand.

“What is it?” she grunted, heaving the ax overhead and letting it fall, splitting a log in two.

“We just got word that Boneshaven was attacked yesterday morning." That made Amity stop and turn around, face pinched with worry. “No one died, but there was damage and there were a decent number of injured,” the herbalist informed her.

“Fuck!” Amity kicked a log and Willow frowned. Otabin's ear pressed against his skull.

“What should we do?” Willow asked as the jarl spit and cursed to herself. 

Amity pinched the bridge or her nose, frustrated. 

“There's nothing we can do, if we go back, he’ll just retake what little ground we’ve managed to gain and we will be right back where we started," she sighed angrily. 

Willow agreed, Boneshaven would endure; it had to. If they stopped it would only be a matter of time before it fell anyway. That being said, things could not continue on the same path they had, Amity was falling apart at the seams and the warriors were growing warier of her every day. 

"You're right… we have to keep going… but we need to talk, Amity," Willow finally said.

The jarl looked at her curiously, brows furrowed.

"The hensbane has to stop," she said and Amity frowned.

"You're not my mother, Willow," was her sharp answer and the herbalist's frown only deepened. 

"No, I'm your advisor and your friend, Amity!" she bit back, taking a few steps closer. "We have to keep fighting but we can't do it without you and it makes you reckless!" she yelled. "I've used up all of the sap we had on our warriors and most on you alone because you don't even try to avoid being injured anymore!"

"What does it matter if I get injured? We're winning and making progress. We have to win this war if we're to have any hope of stopping Ragnarok!" Amity turned to her fully.

"You're going to get yourself killed!"

"So what?!" she screamed back.

Willow was at her breaking point.

"So, there are other people who love you! I know you miss Luz, but…"

"Don't!" Amity cut her off with a sharp snarl, face contorting painfully at the name that was hardly spoken anymore.

Willow frowned, fists clenched.

“Amity, I understand how you feel but…,” Willow started but was cut off by the jarl, face contorted with more than pain now. Now it was fury that pulled at her face.

“How could you possibly understand how I feel?!” she demanded, teeth bared and taking a menacing step forward, ax still in hand, but Willow did not retreat. “I lost the one person I loved more than anything!” Her voice cracked. “They took my light, Willow… and I’m not going to sit by and let them just freely destroy the Isles too! I have to fight, till they’re gone or I’m dead, it doesn't matter which!” she bit out with a snarl; forcing back the tears threatening to fall. 

“Amity…,” Willow started, frowning and holding up a hand.

“You could never understand how I feel! How could you when we both know Boscha will come back to you?!” she demanded. Her face was a mask of rage but her eyes were shiny with unshed tears. 

They stared at each other for several long moments before Willow's hand dropped back to her side and her eyes reflected the sorrow she felt as she stared back at Amity.

“You’re right, I can’t understand it. Keep fighting then… but I don't have to stay and watch you destroy yourself. I already lost one friend and Jarl, I can't do it again, not like this,” she mumbled and turned her back to the seething warrior. “I’m going back to Boneshaven, the wounded there could use my help, Viney and the herbalist from Kransborg will be able to take care of you and the rest of the warriors; I‘ll leave first thing at sunrise.” With that, she walked away, leaving Amity alone. 

The jarl squeezed her ax in a tight-fisted grip as her chest constricted with pain. Pain that never stopped, not since that moment they had taken Luz away, an arrow jutting from her chest and Amity’s hands covered in the light gods bright, glistening, red blood. The only thing that ever dulled it was anger, and she preferred that to the pain. 

She shuddered, tears threatening to fall, but she willed them away with everything she had. Willow couldn’t understand, could never know how it felt to have this gaping hole in her chest where her heart had once been. She thought the pain of Azura’s death had been indescribable, but it was the prick of a thorn compared to watching her love die in her arms. To sit there, covered in her blood as the other gods had whisked her away. She’d never felt so cold as that moment the god of light had left her side, taking with her all the warmth her world had ever known.

No matter how tightly she clung to her medallion, she’d never be warm again. 

~ ~

The journey home was tiring and Willow had never been so glad to see the gates of Boneshaven, even scorched and battered as they were.

"Willow!"

She looked up as the twins came barreling down the path toward her, smiling. She grinned back, laughing as they wrapped her up in their arms.

“How's the fighting been going?” Edric asked when they stepped back.

“How’s Amity and Viney?” Emira followed up.

“The battles are going well, they’re making progress. Viney is well, a few scratches here and there, but nothing that could stop her. Amity is…,” Willow paused and sighed. “Less well,” she admitted tiredly.

They went to the mead hall and Willow spent the rest of the afternoon and early evening telling the twins everything that had been going on. Their frowns only deepened the longer she told them her story.

Emira dragged her hands down her face tiredly and Edric was staring into his mead darkly.

“Luz’s death is destroying her…,” Emira mumbled and Edric grunted in agreement. 

“And she’s content to let it,” Willow sighed, taking a long drink of her mead. It could never be strong enough though, not for this. 

“Is there nothing we can do?!” Edric slammed a fist on the table.

“If Amity doesn't want to go on, we can’t stop her. It’s not just that Luz died though; she feels guilty. She was there, covered in her blood when she was dying, and couldn’t stop it, and I don’t know why she never would tell me but she said it was her fault. That it was her fault Luz died.” Willow finally told them. 

“She didn’t shoot her!” Edric growled. Willow just shook her head. She’d tried to get Amity to explain how the god’s death had been her fault but she would never say, couldn’t bring herself to or was too ashamed, Willow couldn’t guess/

The herbalist finished her mead and stood. 

“Take me to the wounded, I want to check on them.” She’d had her fill of this conversation for now. The twins nodded.

The herbalist spent the rest of that evening and most of the next day tending to the wounded. They weren't too bad off, just a lot of them. The villagers had been forced to take up arms, but they had been victorious. Amity would have been proud.

It was late afternoon and she was finally back at her home, tending to the garden. Large dark clouds had been rolling in all day and rain was threatening to pour down any moment. She needed to save as many of the plants as she could for later use. Where there had been one attack there was sure to be another one, of that she was certain.

Thunder rumbled and rolled like the beating of drums in the distance and she couldn't help but reach up and run her fingers over the medallion hanging around her neck.

She hadn't seen her wife in a month, not since their wedding had turned into a great bloody battle that had ended in the death of her sister.

In many ways, Amity had died that day too.

It hurt, having to stand by while Amity self-destructed, her wife was missing in action and a dear friend was gone, beyond their reach. 

How had everything, so happy and hopeful, turned to rot and ruin before her eyes?

She sighed and stood from the dirt, brushing the soil from her knees, and looked up at the sky. It was pitch black now and any moment rain would pour down, cold and hard, she could tell. It would be a torrential downpour. 

Her connection to Boscha was a useful thing, especially when with a proclivity for plants such as hers. Her hand reached for the brand on her shoulder as she thought about what she knew about gods and their champions. Maybe she was her wife’s one exception in picking champions that embodied strength and protection, or maybe Boscha really thought she was that strong. She hadn’t yet had the chance to ask since she’d received the champion mark.

A roaring spike of thunder made the ground tremble. She barely kept herself standing as it rattled the timbers of her home.

Before she even had a chance to recover a spike of lightning struck the ground just outside the garden fence.

She shielded her eyes from the bright white light with a hand/ 

When it cleared, she turned back and her breath caught in her throat. 

"Boscha…," she breathed, eyes landing on the tall red-headed warrior for the first time in much too long.

Pale, stormy blue-gray eyes looked around before they fell on Willow and then the god quickly jumped the fence and covered the distance between her and Willow in several quick, long strides before scooping her up in her arms.

"Boscha!" Willow squeezed the storm god to her tightly, burying her face in her neck as her eyes grew damp. "I missed you so much…," she choked. The god held her tightly.

"I'm here, my flower," the storm god murmured, threading her fingers through Willow's dark, shoulder-length hair. "I'm here." 

They stayed that way for a while before more thunder rumbled and Boscha quickly moved them inside, out of the rain about to pour down.

"Where have you been, what's been going on?!" Willow fired off questions rapidly when Boscha finally saw fit to set her back down on her feet.

Before she could get any more questions off, the god covered her mouth in a deep, searing kiss that left them both breathless.

"I know you have questions, but my time is short, there's a lot going on, but I had to see you first," she said holding Willow's face in her hands and stroking her thumbs across her dirt-smudged cheeks. "I need to speak to the jarl, where is Amity?" 

Willow grimaced at the question.

“She’s not here…” she mumbled before she quickly explained everything that had been going on since their wedding.

Boscha scowled darkly.

~ ~

It was pouring rain, and even though it was only just sundown the battlefield was dark like early night. Blood washed away quicker than it could be spilled as they fought to liberate their third village.

This was the worst one yet, and well over a hundred Glandis Clansmen and a few black-cloaked warriors were there to try and keep it.

Amity panted, slogging through the mud and dodging swipes of a sword. 

The battle had raged on long enough that the berserker drought had worn off and she was nearly at her limit. The downside to the plant was that once it had left your system you were left tired and drained.

In her rage-induced state, Amity had heedlessly isolated herself in a corner of the village. Now that the drug had run its course she was exhausted and in an unfamiliar village where even if she ran, she risked only cornering herself further.

She gasped, legs trembling as cold rainwater continued to pour down around them, pricking at their skin like thorns. She dodged out of the way of a swinging ax, but it still grazed her shoulder. She hissed at the pain and quickly back-stepped out of the way of yet another swing. For each one she managed to kill it seemed two more quickly took their place. She had made herself a huge target, as the leader and by cutting herself off from everyone else.

Her breath was coming out in quick little bursts of mist. Summer would be over soon, but even so, it was cold like the end of Autumn, as though any day now the sky could open up with snow. She ducked out of the way of a mace and brought her ax crashing down on the neck of a Glandis warrior, but it stuck in his bones and she didn't even have time to think of pulling it out before she had to jump away to avoid being cleaved in two by a greatsword. One quickly rushed her. 

Now weaponless she had few options. She barely managed to step out of the way, her boots sliding in the slick mud, and grabbed his wrist, using it to steady herself and to deliver a right hook to his nose.

His grip on the sword loosened and she wrenched it free of his grasp just in time to block the sword of a black-cloaked warrior. Just as thunder rattled overhead.

"Light is dead and you will follow!" He sneered at her and Amity scowled, using every last ounce of her remaining strength to shove him away and deliver a killing blow to the neck.

She could feel the spray hit her face but she wasn’t sure anymore what was blood and what was rainwater. Just as she went to wrench the blade free she took a shield to the head and stumbled back, losing her hold on the sword and they moved in forcing her to retreat and blocking her access to the weapon.

She panted, looking around her, muscles tense.

There were still at least nine crowded around her, watching, waiting for an opportunity to move in and finish the now again, weaponless jarl.

Amity knew.

This would be her final stand. 

She was bone-weary and her allies were not close enough to help. Even if she could stop one more, while she does the other eight will close in and hack her to pieces.

They only hesitate because of the good chance that the first one to move in would be the one who died, and no one wanted to be the first to die.

Amity was resigned to her fate. 

Fate was not yet finished with her though.

Another loud roll of thunder washed over the village and as if the sounding of a battle horn, they all lunged.

Lightning flashed, striking the ground in front of her, a bright column of light and heat that bit at her face. It shook the ground and she took a step back but lost her footing in the shin-deep mud and slipped, falling to her backside as blinding white light filled the area.

She squeezed her eyes tightly against it.

When it finally subsided she blinked her eyes against the spots flashing in her vision and her mouth fell open, standing with her back to her was a familiar, tall figure in a deep, green cloak and long, plaited red hair.

The Glandis warriors stared in awe for but a moment before they dashed forward anyway, heedless of who stood before them.

The god of storms scowled, and faster than they could comprehend raised her hammer into the air before smashing it into the mud. The earth trembled as a wave of lightning shot across the ground and all nine of them jerked and twitched before falling dead into the mud.

Amity stared at the god’s back for a long moment before she finally turned and faced her, still scowling as thunder rumbled in the air. The god's eyes glowed brightly and lightning jumped across her form in sizzling currents. 

"Bos-"

“You’re not a berserker, you’re a champion of light, so fucking act like it!” Boscha snarled down at her. Amity blinked up at her with wide eyes as the first words the god had said to her in a month sank in. 

Her surprise at the god of storms' appearance was short-lived, and seeing Boscha again only brought a torrent of painful emotions to the surface.

Rage and grief sprang up in her, like daisies in the snow as tears pricked the corners of her eyes, hidden by the torrents of rain that continued to fall. They battled for dominance within; it was her anger that won out.

“How dare you,” she hissed, voice low and indignation dripped from every word. “How dare you show up here, after a month of no word, to me, to Willow, or anyone at all! You have the fucking nerve to show up here and criticize me!” she screamed at the god from her place in the mud. Boscha only continued to stand there looking down at her, scowling.

“To tell me that I…!” she choked as a sob pushed past her throat, the intensity of the pain now ripping at her chest surprised her. “How can I be a champion of light when there is no more light!?” she screamed up at the god of storms, whose scowl had fallen, replaced with a look that was more parts sad than anything else. “How can I champion someone who's dead!?” she burst into a sob against her will as she sat in the mud, rain pouring down as thunder and lightning continued to flash. She was cold, soaked to the bone and so tired that she didn’t think she had the strength to stand as a month of battles and rage and repressed mourning came rushing to the forefront in a wash of tears and sobbing. 

She pressed the dirtied palms of her hands to her eyes and wept. Loud, ugly cries that had been building for weeks. 

It felt like her wounds had been torn anew, blood was gushing forth unchecked as grief that had only been pushed to the back of her mind made itself known once more in hot tears and the sharp stabbing in her chest.

Gentle, but firm hands on her wrists pulled her hands away from her face, and through her tears and the slowing rain, Boscha was looking at her, perhaps the softest she’d ever seen her look at anyone outside of Willow.

“Luz isn’t dead.” 

Amity’s whole world screeched to a halt.


	23. Chapter 23

_Luz isn’t dead._

She heard the words but it took a long moment for them to register in her mind. 

“W-what?” was all Amity could manage to force past her lips as she stared back at Boscha with an absolutely flabbergasted expression. Surely she’d heard that wrong. The god of storms hadn’t just said that Luz wasn’t dead, she couldn’t have.

“Luz isn’t dead, Amity, but you soon will be if you don’t get up. The fight isn’t over yet, jarl.” Boscha stood from her place crouched in front of the mortal warrior and held out a hand to her. 

Amity looked at it for a moment but didn’t hesitate long before she slipped her own into the much larger one and allowed Boscha to effortlessly haul her to her feet in the slippery, shin-deep mud.

The god walked over, stepping over the bodies of the warriors she’d just killed, and picked up Amity’s ax, flicking the mud off with a jerk of her wrist before she held it out to Amity, who was still staring at her, speechless.

“I… Luz…!” she started, but Boscha just held out the ax.

“We don’t have time for that, jarl unless you’ve forgotten, this is a battlefield; we’ll talk later,” she said. A stalwart promise. 

Amity’s hands clenched into fists at her sides.

She reached up and took the ax. A nod was the only answer she could bring herself to give. There were so many questions rushing to the tip of her tongue, but the god was right; they were still neck-deep in the middle of pitched battle. 

"Good, then let's go." Boscha turned and started off in the opposite direction, hammer in hand again.

Amity clutched the ax tightly and followed.

Cold and weariness still sapped her strength, but something else, small and maybe… warm, had ignited within, pushing away the worst of the rigidness she felt beneath her skin. 

The field was still a bloody, muddy mess even as the rain slowed to a stop and fighting was still taking place in every corner of the village.

Amity followed behind the taller warrior as three men dressed in the colors of Glandis came running toward them. They had little idea of what was about to happen to them. 

Boscha dashed forward, hammer in hand, and with one mighty, overhead swing she sent one crashing into the ground, sending mud spraying in every direction as the sound of his skull cracking into the bits echoed through the air.

Bright blue and white sparks of lightning jumped across the gods' arms as she turned faster than they could react and smashed her hammer into another, sending him careening across the village square and crashing into a pile of crates that exploded beneath the impact of his body. The third was too stunned to even move, and he was dead before he even hit the ground, Mjolnir splitting his skull in twain.

Amity hurried to follow Boscha’s rapid movement through the village. A battle cry to her left made her turn just in time to block the swipe of a sword with the metal shaft of her ax. Her muscles protested the force of the blade bearing down on her, but that had never stopped her before, and she rammed her booted foot in his knee. It snapped backward and he screamed as he toppled and the swing of her ax sent his decapitated head rolling across the ground.

They moved quickly through the back alleys toward the main village square where the fighting was still unfolding in earnest. 

It seemed Boscha had no interest in hiding who or what she was as lightning sparked and sizzled through the air, crackling around her hammer as she ran through the square, jumping onto the nearest mead barrel and used it as a springboard to fling herself straight into the closest group of Glandis warriors with a bellowing roar. Her hammer smashed into the ground, releasing a tempest of lightning that sent all of them careening through the air, lightning fizzling over their bodies as they laid mud, twitching before they finally stilled. 

The loud and bright display of otherworldly power caught the attention of everyone, but Boscha didn't stop there and quickly moved on to her next target with Amity at her heels.

Somewhere over the din, a warrior shouted.

"The gods are with us!" 

That single statement sparked a chorus of loud roars and the allied warriors threw themselves back into the fray with renewed vigor as they hacked and cut down everyone wearing the dark violets of the invaders. 

Amity herself threw herself back into it with equal ferocity; a single thought blazed through her mind for the duration of the battle.

_‘Win and survive’_

She needed to survive, if for no other reason then so she could hear what the god of storms had to say; she needed to know what happened to Luz.

Between the force of nature that was Boscha and the rest of their warriors, it did not take much time to cut down the rest of their enemies in brutal displays, their wills refreshed by the god of strength’s presence. 

The crackle of her lightning as it flashed through the air only spurred them on further till the battle was done.

Amity was exhausted, covered in mud and splatters of blood, but she couldn't even imagine the thought of sleeping, she needed to talk to Boscha before anything else.

She had to know what the god of storms knew. 

Viney had quickly made her way to the god of storms side once everything had calmed.

"Boscha, you're here!" The warrior stopped at her side, still wiping blood off her own face.

"Yeah, I brought news for you and Amity, though I already informed the jarl," Boscha grunted as she hung her hammer on her belt and crossed her arms over her chest.

"What news?" Viney looked up at her patron curiously.

"Luz is alive," Amity mumbled, gripping her ax tightly, heedless of the dim glow coming from the sigil engraved upon it as Viney gasped. She turned to look up at Boscha for confirmation.

The god nodded.

"That's great! How…" 

Boscha held up a hand.

"Not yet, we're not done here," she said, her eyes glanced around and the two mortals looked around and saw what she did.

Their allies stood scattered about, chanting and cheering for the god of storms.

"Been a while since I went running into a battle with mortals, I’d forgotten how easily impressed they were," The god of storms grunted. "We gotta do this first," she mumbled, and then lightning flashed, striking the ground in front of them and all the cheering quieted.

"The gods are with you, but you were blessed by the god of light this day, and their champion!" Boscha shouted as she grabbed Amity's hand still gripped around the shaft of her ax and held it aloft, the light sigil glowed faintly in the darkness and all eyes turned to Amity who stared back with equally wide eyes.

Viney seemed to catch on quickly to what her patron was doing, even though she didn't understand the reasoning.

"To Baldur!" she shouted, thrusting her spear into the air.

"To Baldur!" the assembled warriors cheered and shouted.

Amity blinked and finally noticed the glow coming from the sigil.

"Luz…," she whispered to herself, holding the ax in front of her when Boscha finally released her wrist. 

She ran her finger over the glowing sigil tenderly. 

~ ~ 

Amity, Boscha, and Viney sat in a secluded corner of the mead hall as the warriors around them drank and cheered their victory, toasting all the gods and her, but Boscha and Luz especially.

Amity was wet and muddy with a flagon of mead held in her trembling hands as she waited for Boscha to start with bated breath 

The god hated to repeat herself and would not illuminate her statement further until they had all settled, which more than aggravated Amity. To just drop a statement like that and not tell her anything else until they had finished the battle and gotten drinks. She would beat the god bloody if she could.

“Luz isn’t dead?” Viney looked at her patron with wide eyes.

“What do you mean Luz isn’t… I saw her… I…” She glanced down at her hands, remembering all the blood.

Boscha sighed and took a drink from her mead.

“She was definitely bleeding to death, but the arrow didn’t pierce her heart… all the way anyway. We got her back to Asgard and our mother removed it and was able to stop the bleeding,” the god grunted, frowning. “She’s very much alive,” Her gaze settled on Amity. 

“She’s alive…,” Amity mumbled to herself, her grip tightened.

“That’s great!” Viney said.

“It’s good, but it isn’t exactly great,” Boscha said, much to her champion’s confusion. “Luz is alive, but she’s still very badly injured and hasn’t woken up. For a few weeks, we didn’t think she was going to make it, and honestly, we’re still not sure. Her condition has improved some, thanks to Amity.”

“Me?!” The jarl sat up and Boscha nodded. “How… it’s my fault she was almost killed in the first place, how could I have possibly helped her?!” Amity demanded, tears are once more pricking at her eyes; all she’d done was hurt her love.

Boscha looked at her with an unreadable expression for a long moment before sighing again.

“How?” she asked.

“What?” Amity looked up, teary eyes focussed on the god.

“How is it your fault?” Boscha clarified. Viney was also looking at her. Amity wouldn’t tell her or Willow before, but she might tell the god of storms.

“Her weakness…,” Amity started, mumbling. “Her invulnerability has a single weakness. When Luz and I weren’t talking, she told me what it was, she wanted me to know, to show me that she trusted me…” Her jaw clenched.

“You told Belos?!” The god demanded.

“No! No, I never told anyone! He was watching me… for years I think... whenever I found it… I destroyed it because I wanted Luz to be safe in the village.” She let go of her mead to set her head in her hands. “I didn’t tell him, but it was my fault. She told me it was fine and not to bother… If I had listened to her and not been so overly cautious she’d have never gotten hurt,” She mumbled, trying to shove away the tears threatening to fall. 

Boscha sighed.

“Whether or not Luz will blame you is for her to decide. Though knowing my sister, I doubt it. You’re more important to her than anything,” the god grumbled. “It isn’t your fault. That little bastard was already looking to be rid of her. He would have tried anything, just like he tried to get rid of you first,” the god of storms rumbled angrily, lightning threatening to start up again as thunder rumbled outside in tune with the god's anger.

“How did you know that?” Amity looked up with wet eyes.

“The same way I knew where you were. I went to Boneshaven and talked to my flower,” she grunted. “Regardless, her condition is improving because of you.”

“How?” Amity asked desperately. She wanted more than anything for that to be true now that she knew her love was alive.

“That fur mantle you gave her for one. Thing was so thick it slowed the arrow, otherwise, she would be dead,” Boscha said and Amity blinked at that.

Her wedding gift; It had helped protect Luz. 

Her eyes continued to burn. 

“Secondly… because of this…” She held a hand up to the drinking warriors still making toasts to the gods, to Luz. “You know that our powers grow stronger or weaker depending on the mortals that worship us. After Luz was shot and it started to get cold, people stopped praying to her, but once you started fighting again, spreading her name, she improved. It’s making her strong again,” Boscha said.

“So, if we fight and win more battles in her name she should improve more… right?” Viney asked and the god of storms nodded. 

“We’ve done all we can, she needs to heal herself, and for that, she needs to be stronger.” 

“None of the gods can heal her?” Amity asked a tinge of desperateness in her voice.

“The only thing that can heal her is sap from the world tree, and I have my hands full keeping the frost giants out of Asgard after they were tipped off to the sudden depletion of our ranks with her, Hooty and King gone too.” Boscha scoffed. “Do you still have any that I gave you before?” Boscha turned to Amity, who paled.

It was gone. Willow had used it up healing their warriors but mostly her wounds because of her reckless fighting over the last month.

Once again, she was only hurting Luz.

“Shit!” She slammed both her fists on the table. That was answer enough for Boscha.

“Then you need to keep winning battles in her name and make her stronger again. Some of us will help you when we can, but we have our hands full in Asgard. Hooty’s off with the war and King is doing his best to keep Winter at bay...”

“I thought you weren't allowed to interfere with each other?’ Viney asked and Boscha scowled, face darkening.

“We keep the tentative peace between us by not stepping on each other's toes, but Belos ordered his champions to lead his adherents to fight against Luz, which honestly I’m not sure would have been enough, but it was one of his champions that shot her with that arrow, which means he ordered it! He didn’t intend for us to find out about it but we have, and that means that all bets are off!” She slammed a fist on the table, making the mugs jump off the wood and land back down, sloshing drink across the wood.

“Our parents are furious, and that slimy little bastard isn’t going to get away with it!” Lightning jumped upon her arms. Her little sister was only just hanging on and their parents weren’t the only ones furious. She was enraged and King had practically been foaming at the mouth when they’d put it all together. Even Hooty, the idiot that he was, had been stoic and stony-faced at the news. 

“He’s going to try and stop you.” She turned to Amity, gaze intense. “Luz is just hanging on, and she’s the only thing keeping Ragnarok at bay. If she dies and eternal winter sets upon us, Midgard will wither and die and make him powerful enough to do whatever he wants,” she said seriously. 

“So… Amity making Luz stronger is the only thing that can stop Ragnarok and Belos…,” Viney mumbled all the pieces fitting together. 

“Yeah, no pressure,” she snorted, looking at Amity with a grim smirk.

Amity’s fists tightened into balls.

He was wrong then.

She could stop this! 

Luz was alive and she could stop this and make up for what she’d done.

Boscha stood, drawing both of their attention.

“I need to return to Asgard,” she announced, moving away from the table.

“Already?” Amity sat up and the god nodded.

“Frost giants aren’t going to beat themselves to death,” she snorted. “If only…” she turned to Amity. “You know what you need to do,” she said and the jarl nodded, face set in a determined look. “I wish you luck, Jarl. All our lives depend on it,” the god mumbled to herself as she walked out of the hall past the still drinking warriors who toasted and cheered her as she passed.

When she’d gone, Viney turned back to Amity.

“So…?”

“So, we stay the course, we fight, liberate the villages… and dedicate every victory to Luz,”

“And you?” Viney looked at her and it took a moment for Amity to realize what she was talking about.

“No more hensbane…I need to stay alive and fix what I’ve done,” she nodded to herself more than Viney who grinned. 

“Then we better go and rest up so we can head out in the morning. We still have four more villages to liberate!” The warrior grinned and Amity nodded in agreement and stood. “But before we go…” Viney stopped her and held up her drink. “To the god of light?” 

Amity smiled and grabbed her own drink, knocking the cup to Viney’s

“To the god of light!” They cheered and the rest of the hall joined loudly. 

When the mead was gone Amity quickly made her way to her tent that had been set up in the village square, where Otabin was laying out front. Amity reached down and scratched his ears a moment. His tail thumped quietly on the let ground.

When she finished lavishing the beast with affection she crawled inside, closing the flap behind her, and laid on her back, staring up at the top of the tent.

As she laid there, a sort of calm settled over her, and tears began to pool in the corners of her eyes and slowly slid down the sides of her face as she reached up and clenched her medallion in both hands tightly, relishing in its warmth for the first time in over a month; It wasn’t mocking or painful. 

“You’re alive…” she whispered aloud to herself as the tears continued to fall harder and faster, blurring her vision. “You’re alive…” she choked as sobs bubbled up out of her throat. 

She wept long into the night, but these tears no longer carried the unbearable grief of love lost, but hope returned.

~ 

When morning came they packed up and prepared to head out into the rising sun over the eastern horizon. 

Before they did, Amity couldn't stop herself and stopped at the altar of light that stood on the outskirts of the village square. The large stone was engraved with the sigil or light and painted with bright runes. She ran her fingers over its surface and pressed her forehead to it, the way she used to do before she had met Luz when every morning she woke and started her day by praying to the god of light.

“I’ve been doing this all wrong… and I’m so sorry, Luz,” she mumbled, eyes closed. “How ashamed would you be of me if you could see how I’ve been? I let grief and anger turn me into something terrible, and betrayed what you wanted me to do.” Her nails scratched at the stone as they curled into fists. “Not anymore, I’m going to fix this… I’m going to bring you back to me, to the world… I know how strong you are, Luz… so much stronger than you thought, or he wouldn’t have feared you,” she breathed against the hard, cold surface pressed against her skin. 

“Just hold on a while longer, my love.” Her eyes slid open and she pulled away from the stone, giving it a last look before she turned and hurried toward the gates where everyone was waiting on her.

Today felt different to all the warriors as they trudged along the worn forest paths heading eastward. 

First and foremost, they noticed that Amity was much more personable than she had been in some time. She greeted them when she and Otabin walked through the ranks toward the village gates and they responded in kind, despite some being too surprised for words, especially the warrior she’s beaten bloody when she stopped at his side and he looked at her warily.

“I was out of line the other day, I hope you can forgive it, Jogurth,” she said and looked at her for a long moment before giving a nod.

“Aye, Jarl. Things got heated, it happens,” he grunted and Amity nodded before moving on through the crowd. 

They murmured to themselves as they moved. They were still reeling from Bosha’s appearance and her own reveal as a champion of Baldur. She could hear them whispering about it to themselves as they trudged along.

“No wonder she’s so powerful...’

“The gods really are with us…”

“Blessed by the lord of light…

Amity faltered at that, and for the first time in a long time, she let her hand settle over the place where her brand was, marking her as a champion of the god of light.

She was, she was a champion of light, and it was time she started acting like one, as Boscha had said. She hadn’t gotten this far in life by being bloodthirsty or reckless, not only with her life but those who followed her and depended on her to lead them. She needed to do right, for herself, for Luz, and for them; depending on her to help them free their homes.

She straightened herself and walked with a renewed purpose. 

It was time to get a hold of herself and make things right. 

With that thought in mind, she kept going, shoulders back, her violet cloak trailing along behind her and Otabin at her side.

She was so focussed on her thoughts that she didn’t notice the slight warmth that radiated from her brand.

~ ~

Camila sighed to herself as she quickly walked out of her husband's personal room, leaving him to his angry pacing and muttering.

He’d been doing this off and on for almost a month now. Anytime he wasn’t swamped she would deliver news of their youngest’s so far unimproved condition and he would resume his angry rumbling and pacing.

She pinched the bridge of her nose as she walked down the long golden halls. It was quiet, especially for the usually loud and raucous mead hall. It had been like this ever since the day Boscha and Gus had come running with Luz clutched in the storm god’s arms, face pale and blood dripping to the floor. 

Her heart had all but stopped in her chest as everything she had tried so hard to avoid with the spell that granted Luz her invulnerability was coming true before her eyes. 

It was what she had always feared; her baby dying a needless death.

Her fists clenched as she stalked down the long golden halls.

Somehow, it had to be the mortal’s fault. 

She and Luz had been the only ones to know the secret behind her invulnerability until Luz had shared that coveted information with the mortal warrior in some ill-conceived attempt to save a relationship Camila was now certain hadn’t been worth saving; not if it led them here.

Luz had been perfectly content to continue on as she always had, doing her duties in the warm summer months and galavanting about the other realms and Midgard the rest of the time; she’d been content. 

Was that the same thing as being happy though?

No one could argue that over the many years the god of light had been traipsing around Midgard she had never been happier than the last three she had spent with the warrior at her side. She stayed away from Asgard longer and longer, when she wasn’t doing her duties she was with Amity. Camila had seen her youngest seldom over the last three years, only when she absolutely had to make an appearance, and she’d leave soon as she was done, back to Amity’s side; with the jarl was where she was happiest.

But at what cost?

There would be more mortals, provided Luz could pull through, she could always find herself another one, one who hadn’t proved to be such a danger to her daughter’s life.

She shook her head as she walked quickly down the halls to her daughter’s room. The moment she stepped in the door she was surprised to see all four of her other children scattered about near Luz’s bedside. They talked quietly to each other and looked dour.

“Mother,” Gus greeted her as she walked up to the bed and peered down at Luz. Her chest was bound in thick bandages and her skin was still much too pale as she laid there breath shallow but steady and even if nothing else.

"No change?" she asked, glancing at her eldest son crouched on the floor at the bedside, and daughter, standing at the foot of the bed, arms crossed and looking pensive as ever.

"No," King sighed as he let his head drop to the bed next to his twin's face, looking morose.

"Did any of you learn anything while you were in Midgard?" She looked around at her children questioningly.

"Not much…" Gus mumbled, looking at the floor as he leaned on his staff.

King grunted in agreement.

"More fighting on all the Boiling Isles, Ha. Belos' forces have been moving to the Eastern coast of the Southern Isle, Ha Ha." Hooty grunted quietly from his place at his youngest sibling's side.

"He figured out Luz's one weakness by spying on Amity," Boscha said and all her siblings' heads whipped to her.

"What?" King barked, lips pulled back over his teeth, but quickly quieted himself when Luz shifted slightly at the noise.

"So her invulnerability does have a weakness…." Gus hummed as he frowned. “What is it?” He shrunk back when Boscha leveled him with a fiery glare.

"I didn’t ask, we don’t need to know,” she grumbled. “Whatever it is, Amity has been getting rid of it and Belos was spying on her and figured it out," she scowled.

Camila's fists clenched.

"He has been planning this for a long time, Ha." Hooty's face curled up with rare anger.

King and Gus only shared a look.

"Amity is working to fix it but…" before the storm god could even finish her sentence, her mother sneered, drawing their eyes to her.

"It's her fault your sister is even in this state to start with, how could she possibly fix it!?" The mother of the gods demanded as she turned to level her eldest daughter with a hard look.

Boscha's brows dipped between her eyes, frustrated.

"Amity is leading a force along the coast, fighting them to take back the villages he's conquered. They're dedicating their battles to Luz, that's the only reason she's gotten any better in the last few weeks!" she bit out. “She needs to get stronger if she’s ever going to wake up.” 

The rest of the siblings blinked between the two in shock.

"Luz should never have told her about her weakness, the mortal should have left well enough alone!" Camila turned fully to face her eldest daughter, having to look up at the tall redhead. "It's her fault.."

"It wasn't her fault!" Boscha snapped back, which made everyone else jump."Amity was trying to make it safe for Luz, and as far as telling her, only Luz gets to decide who has that kind of power over her and she gave it to Amity of her own will. If we're going to go around throwing blame for unintentional hurt then we should start with you!" The god growled and Camila gasped as the other divine siblings' mouths dropped open in shock.

"How could I possibly be responsible for what has happened to your sister?" Camila bit out, furious at the redhead, who turned to her brothers.

"How many times has Luz careened straight off the edge of a cliff because she wasn't paying attention? Run right through the middle of a battle or tried to fight wild animals with her bare hands?" she addressed the three other gods gathered around, her hands thrown up.

Thick silence filled the air as the three brothers looked around at each other.

"More than I can count…," Gus reluctantly offered after a moment, playing nervously with his staff.

"Almost every day," The god of darkness grunted. Hooty nodded in agreement.

"Luz has always been stupidly, thoughtlessly careless with herself because her invulnerability shielded her from everything, invulnerability you gave her!"

"I was trying to protect her!" Camila yelled, taking a step closer so she was almost nose to nose with the storm god, red-faced and seething.

"So was Amity!" Boscha yelled back, making the rest of them flinch. "Luz threw herself in front of that arrow, and she would have even if she knew it would kill her!" she snarled.

They all stood in stunned silence, no one dared to speak for a long moment, Camila stared up at her, mouth ajar before Boscha suddenly turned and strutted for the door.

"What happened was an accident, and no matter what you might think, mother, you're not the only one who loves her."

With that, the god of storms vanished from the doorway, leaving them alone.

Hooty frowned and stood from his place by Luz's bedside and moved to the door as well.

"Ha, I must go as well." His large frame quickly moved through the door and disappeared.

"We should go too…," Gus mumbled, quickly moving to the door and leaving their mother standing there. King got to his feet and gave his twins’ hand a gentle nudge with his nose before he trotted after Gus, claws clicking on the stone floor as he left Camilla alone with her youngest, who had not moved again since she had entered the room.

She turned and brushed some hair out of Luz's face, the anger drained out of her as she looked at her pale skin, muscles slack, her eyes closed.

Was Boscha right?

Had gifting Luz with invulnerability made her careless and thoughtless with her life?

She didn’t need to think about it long to know the answer.

Luz was notorious for not looking before she leaped, often quite literally, and why would she when only one thing in all the nine realms could harm her? Rather than using her powers to combat threats, Luz had always just run headlong into any danger; heedless to it. 

She’d run straight through fire and raging battlefields… let her sister knock her through the air with her hammer in an attempt at ‘flying’ and used herself as a battering ram. She was well known for using her unscratchable flesh for all manner of things that made even the god of strength wince. 

Her invulnerability had made it so Luz had failed to cultivate any sense of self-preservation, which had led to her thoughtlessly throwing herself in the path of that arrow.

Dread filled her whole being and her fingers clenched into a fist as a single thought struck her.

Belos had known that. 

He had known that Luz wouldn’t think twice about jumping into its path to save Amity because she knew she would be fine.

Though, it felt like there was some truth to her eldest daughter’s other statement as well. Luz would have jumped in front of that arrow even if she knew it would do this. She couldn’t fathom why her daughter was so enraptured with the mortal, but she was, totally and completely. 

Never before had Luz even glanced at anyone twice before she met the ax-wielding warrior; it was baffling to Camilia, much like Boscha and the herbalist that also stuck close to the jarl, though she wasn’t worried about the thunder god at all. Boscha had always been more self-reliant and thick-skinned than her sister.

Luz was a sensitive soul, especially for a god as important as she was. Her feelings were easily bruised and Camila worried about her.

So far, the light god's first foray into love had been bumpy and fraught with peril, even for her. She had a hard time supporting this when Luz had been so deeply hurt by the mortal’s rejection of her after revealing her divine heritage. She’d been withdrawn and distant for weeks before disappearing altogether and no one saw her for months before she finally returned to Asgard, much more cheerful and herself again. 

It had been a worrisome time for Camila. She always worried about Luz, and this was why.

Sometimes she wondered if the woman’s twin hadn’t sucked up all the sensibility for himself in the womb.

She sighed before a small noise made her jerk in place. Her eyes whipped to Luz whose face contorted, fingers digging into the blankets.

“A..-” she breathed, brows furrowing.

“Luz?” Camila leaned in close. “Baby, can you hear me?” she asked quietly, stroking the younger gods face gently.

“A...A…” Luz’s breath came out in quiet wheezes as she grasped at something Camila couldn’t see.

She waited with bated breath.

“Am...ity…,” she finally breathed. “Am...ity….” it was barely a whisper, strained and forced before she once more went totally limp. 

Camila sat back as she looked down at her daughter with tired eyes before she carefully pulled the blanket up to cover Luz.

She would never understand it at all she thought, but much like Boscha and her wife, she may not have needed to. 

In the hall, the god of war quickly caught up to his younger sister before she could make it out and set a hand on her shoulder, bringing her to a stop.

“What?” she growled over her shoulder at him.

“I know you are worried, ha. We all are, but Luz is strong, she will make it! Her champion is strong too, Ha! She will win and our sister will wake, I am sure!” The god of war grinned at her and Boscha sighed tiredly.

“Luz is barely holding on and that rotten little bastard has been preparing this for... years maybe! One of my champions told me the Eastern Island is crawling with mortals devoted to him, this isn’t going to be just a few weeks, it's going to draw out… and I’m not sure Amity has the forces capable of defeating them…” She scowled, fists clenching.

“So, we’ll help wherever we can,”

The two turned to see their other brothers’ walking down the hall toward them.

“Belos attacked Luz, and maybe we have our hands full keeping Ragnarok at bay, but that doesn't mean we can’t jump in and cause mayhem whenever we're able now that he’s broken the peace pact, ” King growled as he and Gus stopped next to them.

“Yeah, we need to make him weaker and Luz stronger, and helping Amity is the best way to do that unless you can make it to Yggdrasil…” Gus glanced up at Boscha, whose scowl deepened.

“He made sure I can’t, I’ve been trying. It’s all I can do to keep the frost giants out of Asgard. I need to get back there now…,” 

“Then we’ll help Amity.” Gus nodded, leaning his staff on his shoulder. “I can head that way soon while the rest of you go back to your duties,” he said.

“And I will come when I can, ha!” Hooty held up a fist and grinning maniacally.

King grunted his agreement, ears pinned back to his skull. 

Boscha looked between them for a long moment before she finally nodded.

"Right, we need to cause as much chaos in his ranks as we possibly can if the Jarl is to have any hope of winning this war and putting off Ragnarok." The storm god finally nodded and she crossed her arms. 

"Chaos!" Gus shouted, hands shooting in the air.

"Ha ha!" Hooty joined him.

King rolled his eyes at the two of them, but the swift back and forth of his tail on the stone floor betrayed him.

"I'm off to see what chaos I can cause for my dear old son…,” Gus said as he turned and hurried down the long halls.

"I need to go too, winter will be here soon," King said as he trotted past them, heading quickly for the front Bifrost.

Boscha watched them go. Those two would definitely cause a fair bit of chaos, she just hoped it was not for the jarl. Those two had a way of letting themselves get out of hand.

Once more Hooty's hand clapped on her shoulder 

"They will be alright, ha. As will Luz, have faith in her champion!” 

Boscha scoffed.

“The jarl is strong, but Luz only made Amity her champion because she's in love with her.”

“Amity loves her too, have faith in that, ha.” 

Boscha looked up at the god of war who only smiled at her and gave her shoulder a final squeeze before he too headed out of the hall.

Boscha watched him go till he was out of sight.

She often forgot, for all his blows to the head, Hooty was the eldest and he was smarter than he let on. 


	24. Chapter 24

Amity was frustrated.

It was foolish to think that, after all the increasing resistance they had been meeting as they made their way down the coast, taking back the fourth village along the route, the village of Blikja would be an easy task by any meaning of the word. The further eastward they moved the rockier and more mountainous the terrain grew. The uneven ground was unsuitable for building a village on.

Blikja was situated right on the coast by the water. Part of the village was built out over the water on platforms that rose up out of the sea to subvert the problem of the terrain, and it wasn’t heavily guarded from what Amity could see as she sat crouched in the bushes just inside the tree line. Otabin was at her side, watching silently as well.

She watched as warriors wearing the Glandis colors, as well as several different black-cloaked ones from what she could tell with the helms they wore, came and went over several hours. Several ships were tied to the docks and more Glandis warriors moved to and from them, carrying crates and bags into the village; supplies from their home island to sustain their occupation. There weren’t a lot of them, maybe seventy to hold the coastal village. Its natural defenses did a lot of the heavy lifting for them this time of year, and circumstances of a fast-fading summer added, the water was frigid already and a boat would have been seen coming from a mile away. 

This was not going to be as easy as the other three villages they had liberated, they had had well over a month to become entrenched in the village as autumn settled over the Southern Isle. Luckily they had picked up a few more warriors from further inland along the way. 

Apparently the adherents of Belos that lived on the southern Isle, in the stronghold further inland had finally made themselves known. So far they had been silent and stayed within the stone walls of their little fortress at the base of the mountains, but recently Belos’ forces had tried to move south and take them from behind. Patrols from the villages in the area had run right into them and routed them. The act of aggression finally brought them to contribute to the war effort on the coast by sending a few warriors to aid Amity. Now here she was, leading well over a hundred and fifty warriors from villages all across the island. 

The jarl hummed to herself as she sat perfectly still, watching for some time. With the sea on three sides and a heavily guarded front gate on the other, they were going to have a hard time with this one, and there was no way they were going to be able to get through the gate before they were full of arrows or covered in boiling substances poured over the walls. 

She reached up and ran her fingers over her medallion. It had become a habit. Anytime she found herself idle, thinking of Luz or otherwise, her hand would reach up to the medallion she now left sitting outside her tunic when not in battle. 

Seeing it seemed to further inspire the warriors following her and it calmed her to feel its warmth and weight on her chest.

She wasn’t yet sure what they were going to do and she wished Willow was here to help her puzzle it out.

Amity frowned at that thought.

Boscha had to leave so quickly when she had appeared she hadn’t had the chance to ask her how the herbalist was doing. They had parted ways on poor terms and Amity felt guilty for the way she had treated her closest friend. Willow had only wanted to help her and Amity had spit in the face of her worry, as far as she was concerned she didn’t think a life without Luz was worth living, simultaneously throwing away her, her siblings, and all the people of the village who depended on her.

Thinking she’d lost Luz had broken her entirely. Amity’s life had been one of hardship and continual loss, and the loss of Luz had been more than she could bear. Her childhood, starting with her parents, had only been the starting point and it continued to color her life still. Her fear of the dark was a constant reminder of those days she only wanted to put behind her. After that, she had spent a long time healing with Azura and Willow.

Then Azura had left her side as well, in a brutal fashion that had done nothing to soften the blow to her fragile heart when history had repeated itself with Luz. Arrow, quiet assurances and all. 

It had been hard for her then too. Grieving while responsibility was thrust upon her, much as it was now, even if her grieving for Luz was now of a different kind. The fact that the god was not at her side but that, if Amity did not rise to the occasion, she would slip through her fingers as well shadowed her every step, causing her heart to constrict.

She couldn’t let that happen, not again. Unbidden memories flashed through her mind’s eye. 

_The sun was setting, long rays of orange and pink colored the ever-darkening sky as it slowly faded. The deep blues and blacks crept ever more across the sky, blotting out the bright colors and light with its’ all-encompassing darkness._

_It would be dark soon, and she would need to retreat into the house, but for now, she couldn’t bring herself to move from her spot sitting on the side of the hill. She’d been sitting here all day, watching the village, even as the snow beneath her had melted and water had begun to seep into her clothes, chilling her._

_Now that dark had begun to settle she could see the spark of fire down below as it bobbed through the village to the square, the torch touched the large pile of wood and hay where everyone else was gathered around in a group as it lit ablaze._

_Azura’s pyre._

_She should have been down there, to say goodby and to comfort the village people as her successor, but she couldn’t bring herself to stand there at their side - at her side - when she had so thoroughly failed in the one thing she was meant to do: protect her jarl._

_She pulled her knees to her chest and buried her chin in them, arms wrapped around them as she tried to curl herself into as tight a ball as she could; make herself just disappear entirely if only it were possible._

_How could she face any of them now, how could she lead them? She couldn’t even protect Azura. It was her fault their leader was gone._

_How could she, barely into her nineteenth winter, lead them? The forest-haired jarl left behind a large pair of boots to fill and Amity felt like a child slipping them on, playing pretend, but it wasn’t pretend. She was now the jarl of the village, hand-chosen by Azura to lead and protect the people of Boneshaven._

_She wasn’t ready._

_She felt tears begin to fall and she buried the rest of her face into her knees._

_She wasn’t sure how long she sat there, not too long as it still wasn't completely dark when she felt movement at her side and looked up to find Willow had settled into the snow beside her. She didn’t say anything at first, only watched the funeral procession below._

_“They could probably stand for you to at least show yourself, even if only for a moment…” Willow finally broke the silence between them. Amity's fingers clenched into the fabric of her pants._

_"I don't think I can…," she mumbled into her knees._

_"I know it hurts… I miss her too, but we still have responsibilities, Especially you now. You're-- " but Amity cut her off._

_"I don't want to be the Jarl!" Amity bit out. "I'm not… I'm not ready… I can't replace her…," she trailed off in a whisper as she hugged her knees tighter to her chest._

_Willow frowned and turned her gaze back to the people below for a long moment._

_"You're not, no one can replace her," she agreed. "But we're not trying to replace her, Amity, we're continuing on, like she would have wanted and she wanted you to be her successor." Willow reached over and squeezed her shoulder._

_"I'm not ready, Willow!" She ran a hand through her hair tiredly. "I can't do this on my own…"_

_"Azura didn't think so and they don't think so." She nodded to all the people of Boneshaven gathered around in the village square. "If they didn't think you could be jarl, someone would have already challenged you; and you don't have to do it alone. I'll be here to help you, with whatever you need."_

_Amity glanced at her before finally uncurling and wiping at the tears that had dripped down her cheeks._

_"I just don't know how I'm going to do it all…," she mumbled and Willow squeezed again._

_"We'll figure it out,” she promised._

_Amity nodded and with a sigh, pulled herself to stand._

_“I need to say goodbye…,” she finally said and Willow nodded before following the new jarl down the hill to the village square._

_"When we're done we'll go back to my home, I still have a jar of preserved berries from the summer," Willow offered and the corners of Amity's lips twitched upward._

_It was small, but it was something._

Amity sighed and carefully backed further into the forest before she stood and made her way back to camp.

She scratched Otabin’s ears as they walked the two miles back to camp, watching the forest carefully as she did. Autumn was here and the trees had begun to change, their leaves turned much quicker than usual without the god of the summer sun to gently usher it out. Instead, it was slipping quickly like water through their fingers and already turning cold. She couldn’t imagine what the winter was going to be like when it arrived in truth, and outside they were going to bear the brunt of it. 

Already they were hunting down animals in their spare moments to make gear for the Winter because without question this would continue to drag on. Suddenly Amity wished she had the bear cloak Luz had made for her. She couldn’t wear it to fight in, but it was warm and she could definitely use more of that as the Winter months rolled in. 

Thinking of Willow, she couldn't help but wonder how things were going in Boneshaven. They hadn't had any word from the village since it had been attacked. She assumed everything was fine, but there was no way to know for certain without checking, and at present, they needed everyone they had here. 

She felt guilty about that too, leaving all the villagers, though they weren't unprotected, and Willow was just as good a leader as she was. Sometimes she wondered why Azura had chosen her, an outsider, to be her successor when Willow had lived in the village all her life, following the elder warrior and healer around.

It was too late to be wondering what-ifs. Amity had long accepted her role as the chieftain and protector of Boneshaven, it just seemed that, somehow, she had become the protector of all the Southern Isle as well.

When she returned to camp she was heartily greeted by several warriors as she walked through. She nodded or lifted a hand in greeting. 

Morale had only continued to go up since the night they had liberated Kransborg, not that she imagined it wouldn't when the god of storms had made herself known to everyone and then outed her as a champion of light. She supposed it would be more correct to say the champion of light since she was the only champion Luz had ever chosen. She really wished there were more, maybe then it wouldn't feel like she was carrying the weight of her betrothed’s life on her shoulders by herself.

Regardless, she was the only one, and she wasn't going to let her patron and lover down any more than she already had.

When she made it back to her tent she wasted no time crawling inside and laying down with an exhausted sigh, Otabin curled up at her side.

She was tired, on many levels, but most of all just sleepy. She'd been up late into the night, planning with the most experienced warriors, but more than that, she had been having nightmares when she had slept.

They weren't always the same, but they were all very similar in the way that they were always about Luz. Always her and the god together, somewhere. The river, the cave of light, her home. All places that they had regularly been together over the years, and always, without fail, an interloper dressed all in black would appear.

Even without knowing how, she knew that their arrows were made of mistletoe, and always she threw herself in the way of them and woke as they pierced her flesh.

She sighed and dragged her hands down her face tiredly. What she wouldn't give for a good dream about her divine lover. Them together anywhere, doing the most inane things as they often did. Walking through the woods with Otabin, laying silently in bed, enjoying each other's presence. She would even accept the time Luz had almost burned down her home trying to cook for her, splatting flaming fat on some furs that she almost hadn’t been able to stomp out.

She bit her lip hard enough to draw blood. 

She never knew how much she could miss such tiny and at the time, seemingly insignificant moments with the one she loved most. She wouldn't even be mad if the house burned down if she could only go back to that moment.

But it was not to be and she stayed in her tent, staring up at the taut elkskin and sighing. Gods how she missed her.

Finally, she turned over onto her side and closed her eyes. She was tired, and there was no telling when or if they themselves might be attacked by their enemies. If he had known about the first three villages then surely he knew that they were coming here and that an attack was imminent.

It was just a matter of when she could figure out how to get them into the village short of smashing through the front gate. While it was possible, it would cost them too many lives, and they were still battles yet to fight along the shoreline.

With that weary thought finally, let herself drift off to sleep.

~

Edric yawned as he leaned against his post outside the village gates. Ever since Amity and half the warriors had left, other villagers had begun to pick up the slack left in the village's defense.

Much to his dismay, that included himself and Emira. They weren't exactly warriors, but they were no strangers to bloodshed at this point either. The attack of Glandis at Willow and Boscha's wedding along with the attack some weeks ago had made his twin and himself far more familiar with swords than they had been before, though wounds were nothing new to them. 

He crossed his arms and a scowl pulled at his lips, as it always did whenever his mind happened to drift to the thought of their parents. He preferred not to think of that time at all, watching helplessly as they'd beaten down Amity in every sense of the word. Verbally and into a bloody pulp, and if their rage was grand enough, they then turned on them.

He was ashamed to think of those days. One memory in particular always stabbed at his heart.

_The great longhouse was quiet, their parents away speaking to the jarl of the village. Even with three children, it was always quiet. They had learned long ago that it was better not to draw attention to themselves, lest they bring their parents ire down upon them, or worse yet, on Amity, who always seemed to take the brunt of it; even when it was the twins at fault. Just last night they had thrown her into the darkened closet again. Neither of the twins had slept much, listening to their younger sisters weeping and banging on the door, begging to be let out._

_Amity had been scared of the dark as a small child, as many were and their parents decided it was best to weed it out of her now by exposing her to it constantly. Instead, it seemed that it only got worse every time. Her cries louder and louder and her screaming and clawing at the door that much more desperate. The inside of the closet door bore deep gouges where her nails had clawed at it._

_Eventually, on nights Amity was locked up in a dark place in Clan Blightbane's longhouse, one of the twins would climb into the other’s bed and they would hold each other for comfort, listening to their sisters terrorized crying until dawn when they could go outside where they could no longer hear it. They wanted to help her, but they knew what would happen if they did. The same thing that happened anytime they disobeyed their parents' word; nothing good._

_They had tried, only once, to help her._

_With their parents away and it pouring rain outside the twins had been relegated to the house and Edric could not stand it anymore. Despite his better judgment, he got up and moved toward the door._

_"What are you doing?" Emira hissed, voice tight as she watched him walk over to the door and began unbolting it._

_"I can't listen to it anymore," his voice was strained. Sure they loved to give Amity a hard time, but they loved their little sister dearly and he could not stand to listen to it for one more moment, the sounds she made caused his skin to crawl._

_When the final bolt came loose the door flung open and he jerked back just as Amity threw herself, sobbing, into his arms._

_"Hey, hey, it's okay, Amity," He soothed, running a hand through her auburn hair. Emira quickly hurried over and wrapped the younger girl up between them in a tight grip._

_They held her till her cries subsided… and the front door had opened._

_All three of them suffered that night, but it seemed Amity more severely than ever before, and the next time they crossed paths with her, a large, gaping wound bisected her face from her left brow to her right cheek._

_The twins decided that no matter how much she cried, at least in the dark, she was safe._

Edric clenched his eyes and tried to banish the memory. It was especially hard when that wound had scarred over, a prominent feature of his younger sister's face. 

"You look serious…"

He looked up to find his twin standing there, looking at him, concern etched into her features.

"I was just thinking." He shrugged.

“Oh, yeah?” she asked as she walked over to lean on the wall beside him and nudged him.

“Just… thinking about Amity.” He shrugged again and Emira hummed. “She wasn’t exactly doing great when we last heard, I just worry about her,” he sighed.

“I do too, but hopefully hearing that Luz is still alive has helped all that. Maybe she’ll be a little more careful now,” Emira said and they both hoped that was true.

“She has a hard time letting go of things…,” Edric mumbled and his twin snorted. 

“That’s one way of putting it. We never even would have seen her again if she hadn’t been out for revenge.”

Edric snorted at that, how could he forget?

_It was cold, the height of winter, and the twins were huddled together beside the fire that had been lit in the market square._

_They were always cold, dirty, or hungry. Such was the way when your entire village was wiped out by a plague, leaving only you and your twin alive._

_It happened so suddenly. Hexhaven had been fine and then everyone was sick. It had started with one and before they knew it almost the entire village had dropped dead or was actively dying from the mysterious illness. They had probably only been spared because they had seldom been allowed out of Clan Blightbane's longhouse once Amity had been banished and they tended to keep a good distance from their parents, for their own safety._

_Once their parents had gotten sick, the twins decided to take their chances and fled, only hearing later that the entire village had succumbed to it._

_There was no love lost there, but they hadn't anticipated just how difficult it would be to survive on their own. Summer, while hot and balmy, hadn't been too difficult to navigate and food was plentiful even in the wilderness, Autumn was more scarce but manageable but then winter had hit in full force._

_They had to scramble to make any ends meet that they could, but neither of the twins was exactly a hunter, nor a warrior, though they were fast and quick with a sleight of hand. Stealing in a crowded market was easy, but they still had to do it sparingly unless they wanted to lose their hands._

_That winter day they'd had no luck and didn't want to push what little they had any further, so they stood huddled together by the fire. If they had to be hungry, the least they could be was warm._

_Emira sighed, breath coming out in a thick cloud as she looked around the market at the warriors and people from the surrounding villages. The market was a hub in the middle of the island, where those from all the different villages came to hock their wares to each other._

_As she glanced around, something caught her eye._

_A warrior, if the large double-sided ax hanging from her belt meant anything. She wore a thick woolen tunic of dark magenta and a black fur mantle and cloak._

_She turned to look at something and Emira gasped, drawing her brother's attention as a sharp pain stabbed at her chest._

_"What?" he asked, turning to her as he rubbed his hands together, trying to generate some warmth into his numb digits._

_"Look over there." She nudged him, nodding in the direction of the warrior that was not facing them anymore._

_"What about her?" he grumbled._

_"Just wait," she hissed and sure enough a few seconds later she turned again and Edric sucked in such a sharp breath that the cold air seared his lungs. The warrior looked very familiar, to begin with, but the scars… at the very least the one large one that bisected her face from her left brow to her right cheek; that was more than a little familiar._

_"It can't be…," he mumbled more to himself than his sister._

_The last time they had seen Amity had been an early spring evening as the three of them had gone to bed. Amity had looked worried about something but she wouldn't say what when they tried to ask and eventually they gave up and went their separate ways._

_The next day they had gotten up and found the house empty save the two of them. Eventually, their parents and their two servants had returned and informed them that Amity had been expelled from the clan for cowardice, thrown into the deep caverns outside the village, to be forgotten._

_They had only been able to sit there, shocked at that._

_They became the sole targets for their parents' frustrations and wrath after that._

_It was two years after that the plague had descended upon the village and the twins had made their escape._

_Emira was moving across the square before her brother even realized it._

_"Em!" he hissed, as he grabbed her shoulder. "You remember what they said, that can't be Amity…" he frowned. He wished it was but their parents had told them exactly what they had done to their younger sister, there was no way she was still alive._

_"I just… let's just check... it couldn't hurt to check right?" She asked, eyes pleading and a slight quiver in her voice._

_Edric's jaw clenched. He didn't want to get his or his sister's hopes up, but the idea of not checking and it somehow being her was a heavier weight to bear._

_He let his hand drop and Emira turned and quickly made her way across the road to the green-haired warrior, but stopped short, not sure what she should do or say._

_"A-Amity?" she called and the warrior turned to her and her curious eyes widened._

_"Emira?" She said and the older woman's hands shot up to cover her mouth and tears sprang to her eyes. Edric's mouth hung open._

_"You're alive!" Emira let out a sound akin to a gasp mixed with a shriek and threw herself at Amity whose arms stuck out limply away from her sides as she blinked for a beat before she wrapped her arms tightly around her sister, squeezing tight and burying her face in her neck. Edric quickly jumped in and wrapped her up from the other side._

_They squeezed each other tightly for a long while before they finally released her, but not completely. Her sister's hands still gripped her shoulders tightly as she stood back to look at her._

_"You're alive!" Emira repeated and sniffled, tears still willing up in her eyes._

_"Where have you been? What happened to you?!" Edric rushed in._

_"I've been living in a village on the coast… what happened to you two?" She asked, finally taking in their haggard and unkempt appearances._

_They told her of everything that had happened and Amity frowned._

_"Come home with me. I'll get you something to eat... And a bath." She smiled at them teasingly._

_"Oh, gods yes!"_

_"Please!"_

_They intoned and Amity smiled at them before she turned and led them back to Boneshaven._

_They were both bathed, clothed, and fed before finally sitting down for Amity to tell them everything that happened with her since she had been banished._

_"You're the jarl here now?" Emira asked and the warrior reluctantly nodded._

_"For the past few weeks," she said. "It's been a bit of a… transition period," she admitted with a tired sigh. “Fighting and leading during combat, that’s easy, it's the day to day I’m still learning. Mediating arguments, negotiating with other jarls and making judgments when someone's broken the village laws. That’s been a little trickier… Willow helps me whenever she can but it’s still...” she trailed off and looked around the longhouse and all the little touches that indicated a second occupant that had once been present. “...lonely.” She finally settled on._

_The twins shared a quick glance before Emira reached over and took hold of the young jarl's hand in hers._

_“Well… we're here if you want…” she offered with a squeeze._

_Amity squeezed back and smiled at the two._

_“I think we could find a place for you two here.” She nodded._

_It was then the longhouse door opened and Willow popped her head in and upon seeing the twins her expression turned into one of surprise._

_"Hey, I didn't realize you had company…," she said, looking around._

_"Ah, Willow! This is my brother and sister, Edric and Emira…," she started after introductions all around the jarl explained running into the two in the market. Willow's face took on a suspicious look._

_"What were you doing up that far north?" she asked and Amity's eyes immediately flickered elsewhere, making the herbalist sigh._

_"You were going up there to do exactly what we talked about you not doing, weren't you?" she accused and Amity's silence was answer enough._

_"What's going on?" Edric blinked and Emira looked between the two, just as confused._

_Willow just crossed her arms and looked at Amity, exasperated._

_"I… I'd been thinking a lot about what happened with our parents and I wanted to return…" she trailed off, unable to look any of the other three occupants of the room in the eye._

_"She wanted revenge…," Willow finally said. "And I thought we had decided you would let it go." She leveled Amity with a hard look._

_It took the twins a moment to figure out what she meant._

_"Wait.. you were in the market because you were on your way to Hexhaven?" Her brother turned to her._

_"...to kill our parents?" Emira finished._

_"I hadn’t decided anything… I just wanted… It doesn't matter… you said they’re already dead didn't you?" She finally turned her gold gaze back to them. They glanced at each other quickly before they turned to her again and nodded. “Then it doesn’t matter…”_

_“Amity…,” Willow sighed, but the jarl quickly changed the subject._

_“The house at the bottom of the hill is still empty isn’t it?” she asked and Willow nodded, though she still didn’t look pleased. “You two can take it over, though it needs a little repair…”_

_“Anything is better than sleeping outside in the snow,” Edric said and Emira nodded in agreement._

_“I’ll take you there…” Willow nodded and the twins stood to follow, but not before giving their sister another tight hug that made her chuckle._

_"I'll see you later," she promised, and then they follow the herbalist out._

_The house in question had a few holes in the roof that would need repair, especially now that it was winter, but for the most part, it was warm and dry and they quickly set about lighting a fire in the empty pit._

_"So… she was going to Hexhaven?" Edric turned to Willow who only sighed wearily._

_"She's been really hung up on whatever it was that happened between her and your parents, especially since… since our old jarl died," she trailed off. "I thought I had talked her out of it, but I guess she left early this morning while I was out…" she frowned._

_"We can't blame her for that…," Emira mumbled._

_"Maybe with you two here, she can finally let all that go… she's always spoken rather highly of you."_

_That surprised both twins._

_They had always felt like failures, not being able to do anything for their sister. Her 'death' had weighed heavily on them. They had thought that surely, she blamed and resented them for not doing more._

_"Yeah…," Edric mumbled._

_"Well, if you need anything you know where Amity is and my house is on the edge of the village with the fenced-in garden," she said as she moved back to the door. "Welcome to Boneshaven."_

"We can only hope she’ll be alright." Emira sighed, dragging her brother back to the here and now. Edric nodded and they continued to stand there in stony silence, watching the empty path that led to and from the village. 

“Why so glum you two?” A new voice called and the twins' heads whipped up toward the sound.

"Lord Gus!" they called to the god sitting crouched atop the village gates.

"What are you doing here?"

"Any news about Luz?"

The god hopped down, feet hardly making a sound as he hit the ground.

"I came to see how things were going and if anyone had anything for me to take to Amity before I head to the coast. Luz is… hanging in there." He frowned.

The two also frowned at that.

"Ah… well, we don't, but Willow might." He turned to his sister who nodded.

The herbalist was knelt down in her garden when they arrived. She looked up when the three walked up to the fence.

"Willow, Gus is here! He's going to see Amity, do you have anything to send to her?" 

"Yeah, I have a bag of herbs I've been prepping to send that way." She nodded and quickly disappeared inside the house before returning with a large pouch that she handed over to the god of mischief. "Ah... one more thing, wait here." She said and ran up the hill to Amity's home.

She came back a few minutes later with a bundle of fur under one arm.

"I think she might want this." She handed it to Gus as well and he nodded. 

"If that's all I should head that way," the god said.

"Give her our best. Tell her village prays at the light altar every morning," Edric said

"Tell her to take care of herself and that we miss her," Emira added quickly. Gus nodded and turned to Willow who only nodded.

"I'm off then." He turned and took a few steps before the air around him seemed to shimmer like heat waves on the dessert and he vanished.

~ ~

Amity walked quietly around the perimeter of the camp, ax in hand, always at the ready. Otabin trailed on ahead of her, sniffing at the ground and every other rock he found interesting as they moved along. A cold wind bit at the exposed skin of her face and hands. It was going to be a long winter, she could already tell. She took a deep breath of the cool autumn air, tried to let it settle her busy mind, help her think more clearly. It didn’t, it only made her lungs burn. 

They needed to break into the village of Blikja before winter set upon them so they could resupply and make their way to Stein, which would be a challenge of itself.

Like Blikja and the village of Torp that lied farther along the coast, it too made excellent use of the terrain and its natural barriers to protect itself. Torp was a veritable fortress, carved into the rocky mountainside and neigh impenetrable. 

She would deal with that when she got there. For now, they needed to decide how to break through the barriers of Blikja.

Otabin stopped dead a few feet in front of her, ears pricked up and body still as stone. Amity tensed, ax ripped in both hands.

The distant rustling of leaves and the snapping of sticks grew steadily closer and closer, snapping underfoot.

Her grip shifted on the shaft, gingers tightening. but Otabin did not move. Then suddenly from the brush, a pack of wolves dashed out, running straight at them.

"Shit," Amity cursed under her breath and prepared herself, but then Otabin dashed forward and Amity's heart almost stopped.

It started again quickly as her companion ran and jumped into the large furry bodies of gray and black, licking and nipping and making playful sounds.

The pack responded in kind and Amity's body went slack.

"Wh-"

"It's been a while, but they recognize their brother when they see him." A voice at her side made Amity jump and turn to find a familiar figure in a pale blue tunic.

"Gus?!" Amity said in disbelief and the god of mischief chuckled.

"Been a while, Jarl." He tipped his head in greeting.

"What are you doing here?" Amity finally lowered her weapon.

"Brought you some things from home." He handed over the satchel from Willow. "Also best wishes from your siblings and that they hope you're taking care of yourself." He wagged a finger at her knowingly.

Amity accepted the bag and nodded, smiling to herself. She missed those two; hopefully, they were doing alright. 

"Did… you talk to Willow?" she asked hesitantly.

"Only for a moment. She had that for you, but didn't say much else." 

Amity frowned at that but nodded. She wouldn't blame the herbalist if she were mad at her; Amity was mad at herself.

She dug through the pack of herbs and paused. Rolled up inside was a mass of fur. She pulled it out and felt the fur clutched between her fingers. Her bearskin ‘cloak’. As she unrolled it, something heavy slipped out into her palm and she blinked.

It was a jar, sealed tight with a piece of hide. Inside she could see it was filled up with: lingonberries, raspberries, and her favorite, thornberries.

Amity clutched the jar tightly as her lips twitched upward.

"I thought I might come and lend you a hand against my wayward offspring," Gus said, glancing over at the wolves as they played and bringing Amity out of her thoughts.

"I know that you and Luz are close but Belos is…," Amity trailed off.

"My son?" Gus scoffed. "He's dead to me!" He stomped a foot in the dirt. Amity could only cock a brow at that.

"Belos is a lot younger than the rest of us, the nine realms were without death for a long time, ya know? It became necessary, but most of us have been around a lot longer and he was never exactly close to his siblings or me and mine," the god said. "True, I like making things hard on my siblings sometimes, all in good fun, but I love them all dearly. Even Boscha, but don't tell her I said that." He grinned and Amity scoffed.

"He's never been close to anyone, and he thinks that my penchant for making trouble with my siblings means I'm not close to them when nothing could be further from the truth. Thing is, I'm not an Aesir, I'm a frost giant."

Amity's brows shot up into her hairline at that.

"You're not exactly…," she trailed off, not sure if what she was about to say would offend him.

"Large? Giant? Slobberingly imposing?" He asked with a grin. "No, I'm not. That's why I was abandoned by my own father, but Odin took me in and I became one of them, and Luz and I have always been close…" His eyes took on a dark look and the bejeweled eyes of the snake carved atop his staff began to glow. "And if he thinks I'm going to sit by and let this attack on her stand then he doesn't know me at all!" He slammed the butt of his staff into the ground, a slight tremor shaking the ground. "Like Luz, I'm not really that interested in the power politics back home, but I'm not going to stand by and let him destroy everything." He frowned and looked up at her. "And since he's already broken the pact, the four of us have all agreed to offer any and all assistance we can render you."

"Well, you picked a good time. I have no idea how we can possibly get inside Blikja without them picking us all off," Amity sighed, frustrated.

"Pfft, is that all?" Gus grinned. "Easy." His grin turned dark.

~ ~

Night had fallen dark and thick over the village of Blikja. The sentries atop its gates leaned on the walls, bored.

They almost didn't notice it at first, it was slow and gradual, but eventually, a thick fog had rolled over the village and the surrounding water and forest. One could hardly see their own nose in front of their face.

It was disquieting and set the Glandis warriors on edge. They had been waiting for weeks now for the locals to attack, but everyday slipped by with still no attack. The tension inside the village grew more every day.

The black-cloaked champions continually warned them to be on their toes unless they wanted to meet their end on the champion of light’s ax and disappoint their god, who would surely punish them when they arrived in Niflheim. They paced and twitched as the thick vapor blocked out their sight and muffled most noise. If ever they were going to be attacked it would be now, when the fog would hide their enemy's movements.

The slightest noises made them jump as they waited, even the villagers were unnaturally quiet. 

Then they heard it.

On the other side of the village, the rustling of leaves and twigs underfoot, a number of feet, but how many they weren't sure.

"In the woods!" Someone shouted and the Glandis warriors rushed to the wall and began firing arrows into the thick haze of gray.

Gus grinned to himself as he watched his wolves run back and forth through the fallen leaves, crunching under their paws as they made as much noise as possible. The eyes of his staff continued to glow as more and more fog manifested itself in the air.

On the other side of the village, the dock stood abandoned. Even with the fog, a ship would have been spotted before it could dock. The cold waters were still, quiet and dark.

An ax whipped out of the water and embedded itself into the wood of the dock, the noise muffled by the fog and covered completely by the yelling of the Glandis warriors firing arrows into the forest. The sigil upon its face glowed dimly in the darkness.

Amity grunted as she hauled herself up onto the dock, chilled breath coming out in thick clouds as water dripped in veritable rivers down her face and off her drenched form. Her whole body convulsed with shivers as the icy water soaked her clothes. Gus’s powers in conjunction with the fog only just kept them from freezing to death. 

Other warriors growled and rumbled to themselves as they crawled onto the dock equally chilled, but a thirst to fight warmed them from the inside burned like white-hot coals in their bellies. The warriors of Blikja especially were chomping at the bit as they pulled themselves out of the freezing water, cold and angry.

Once enough had gathered on the deck Amity turned to them and raised her ax, sigil glowing, low but steady.

"For Baldur!"

"For Baldur!" they roared back and stormed inside where the slaughter began.

~ ~ 

From her deathbed in Asgard, Luz twitched, fingers curled into the blankets.

"Amity…," she mumbled, face contorted in pain. 

Camila ran her hand across her daughter's fevered forehead, dabbing at the sweat gathering there with a cloth. At times, her consciousness seemed to rise up, about to break the surface of sleep as she twitched and moved, always mumbling her betrothed’s name under her strained breath before she settled again into motionless sleep.

She wondered, not for the first time, just what was happening in Midgard.


	25. Chapter 25

Cold.

It was nothing but cold and icy everywhere they looked. Winter had come even quicker than they had expected and while they had gathered the necessary supplies in the nick of time, Amity could hardly remember a colder winter, especially so early in the season. What should have been late autumn, edging into the start of winter seemed more like the peak of the season of death and decay, snow rising up their shins and gathering quickly on their heads and shoulders faster than they could shake it off.

Even with all the supplies, they were able to take with them from Blikja, winter still hit them hard.

It seemed Belos had grown tired of always waiting for them to come to him again and every step of the way from Blikja to Stein was an uphill battle of constant skirmishes with bands of Glandis warriors and black-cloaked champions coming out of the woods and trying to waylay them. Amity couldn’t help but scoff at them. Most of them were average warriors at best, not like the one she had killed over three years ago that had managed to kill her back. Belos seemed to hand out champion brands like loaves of bread considering she’d never seen another god with so many, and Luz herself had once said that some of the gods handed them out to mortals they could use rather than ones that were truly useful or whose ideals and innate strengths aligned with their chosen patron’s. Still, they were more warriors to slay and it was two steps forward, one step back, and early winter before they finally made it within shot of the village. 

Battles lasted off and on, sometimes for weeks, and then they were forced to stay put and recuperate before they could move forward again. It was slow progress and there were days where some of the men seemed ready to give up and return home, but those from the three villages they had not yet been freed remained stalwart, and maybe it was out of shame, fear of being looked at as a coward, or just unbridled conviction, but no one left. They continued to fight, gaining ground inch by inch down the coast toward the village. Every mile bought in lives, but luckily, few of their own. 

It was wearying, and since Gus had made his exit she had not seen hide nor hair of the gods since, which was disheartening to the men and worrying for her. With such a powerful winter having blown in she was more worried than ever about what condition Luz was in, and there was nobody to tell her; all she could do was carry on and hope. 

Surely, one way or the other Boscha or Gus at least would have come to tell her if Luz had finally expired or if her condition was improving, but weeks passed with no word, and Amity was left to wonder and guess. Her imagination had a way with running away from her in the worst ways and some days when the battles were through or they were left to wait and heal, she sat in her tent, curled up in the bearskin and cried, Otabin wrapped around her; a source of warmth and comfort. Sometimes she was just so frustrated that hot tears leaked out of her eyes against her will and others she felt the loss of Luz at her side keenly.

For a time, she had sworn there had been a faint warmth coming from her champion brand, but by the time she could focus on it, there was nothing. 

Her medallion still offered its ever-present warmth, but she guessed at this point that the medallion simply held an innate heat all its own rather than coming from Luz herself. It was a disheartening thought, but one she had grown to accept. Even if the warmth that radiated from the gold metal wasn’t from Luz directly, it still felt like her, and that more than anything else right now did bring her comfort when she trudged through the ever-deepening snows, ever onward toward her next battle. Especially when there was so little of that to be found. Otabin too was good company along with Viney, who often joined her in her tent.

They helped keep each other warm and simply talked. The stout warrior was missing Emira just as dearly as Amity missed Luz and that was a pain they could share and help each other bear. 

“How do you think the village is holding up under this winter?” the warrior asked her as they sat curled around the fire with the others, drinking mead in a vain attempt to make their insides warm if their outsides couldn’t be.

“I’m sure they’re fine, Bonshaven has never had trouble getting through tough winters before and they have Willow there to lead them,” the jarl said, scratching Otabin’s head with one hand and drinking out of her flagon with the other.

“I suppose so…,” she hummed. “I hope Em’s doing alright,” she mumbled before she took a long drink.

“My sister is tougher than she lets on,” Amity hummed around her drink as she stared into the flickering flames of the fire. Despite the cold, she was growing sleepy. 

They had spent a while that morning clearing the snow out of their camp as they prepared for the battle to take back the village of Stein and Amity had had precious little sleep over the last few days now that they were so close. It was all she could do to keep the warriors of Stein from rushing in, but even they knew better.

The village was set back between two cliffs just a short way from the shore. It had two main entrances, one in the back and one in the front, or at least it had. The main entrance that faced west had a large, metal enforced gate and the back way was thin and narrow, passing between the rock, a footpath for single travelers rather than for any carts or large groups coming to and from. 

A quick scouting trip confirmed that the narrow path had been blocked off by large boulders, ruling it out completely, and even if it hadn’t been, it simply would have bottlenecked their forces and made them that much easier to pick off as they came through.

That left only the main gate, which was the main reason for their stalling. There was no way they would ever be able to break through the gate, not unless they were allowed the time to chip away at it, which would never happen before they were picked off from the rocky precipices’ of the cliffs, the perfect place for archers to stand and take shots at them.

They waited and regrouped while Amity tried to puzzle it out. If this were a normal raid they would have just set the whole thing ablaze, but they were trying to win it and its people back, destroying it wouldn’t accomplish any of their goals of saving the people and inspiring further worship of Luz to make her strong again.

She really wished at times that they could though. Just set fire to everything; maybe then she would be warm again. 

She snorted to herself and Viney looked up at her.

“What?” she asked, a brow quirked upward at what Amity could possibly find funny as they sat out here in the cold, fighting a war to subvert the end of their world and the other eight as they knew it while her betrothed laid on what could possibly be her deathbed. 

“Nothing,” she shook her head, smiling ruefully to herself as she stood and downed the last of her mead and set the cup on the ground. “I’m going to try and get some sleep,'' she mumbled as she turned and walked off to her tent. Otabin stood and gave himself a shake before following along after her, his large white form almost disappearing against the backdrop of snow. 

“Aight.” Viney nodded and stayed where she was. She was in the mood to get blackout drunk. With the snowstorm that seemed to be moving in, she doubted there was going to be any fighting anytime soon. 

Amity moved across the camp but at the last moment took a detour toward the light altar they had erected. They put one up at each of their camps. Some more permanent, etched into large rocks that they would then leave behind, or more portable ones carved into wood they carried with them.

Wherever they went they made sure that before and after battles they prayed to the god of the light and joy, both of which had been in short supply for the warriors in recent days. This one was carved into a tall piece of rock and some of their food had been left at the base as an offering. Amity couldn’t help but smirk at that. Of all the gods, Luz was the only one that didn’t need to eat. 

She reached up and traced her fingers over the scratchy but deep engraving of the sigil of light. She could trace the symbol blind or in her sleep, its lines as familiar to her as the worn divots in the leather ax or the scars across her face.

"I hope this is helping… I don't know what I would do if I lost you…" she paused, frowning. Or maybe she did and that scared her too. The days following Luz's 'death' felt like such a haze to her now, but the abysmal and dark feelings from that time remained. The all-encompassing feeling of loss and despair had been all-consuming and left yet more wounds within, ones that were scabbing over now, but they would scar and remind her exactly what it felt like; what it would feel like if Luz were lost for certain to her. She sighed, still dragging her fingers over the stone. 

"I'm doing the best I can… I miss you…," she whispered to herself.

The stone remained ever silent and she sighed before she turned and stalked back to her tent.

Snow had started to lightly fall again and it dusted the tops of her bearskin covered shoulders as she walked along back to her tent. She brushed it off before climbing inside and laying down as she set her ax aside. Otabin crawled inside and laid at her side. She snuggled into him for warmth. 

“Are you as tired as I am?” she asked him. He made a grunting sound and she grinned as she rubbed her fingers through his fur. “Yeah…,” she mumbled and closed her eyes. Despite the cold, it didn't take her long to drift off.

Amity found herself standing in a long golden hallway. It was bright and shining, the floors made of high polished stone that she could almost see herself in. There were several doorways and halls that lead out of the one she was standing in.

But something was drawing Amity forward in a specific direction, a tug from deep within that had no explanation, just an intense feeling that spurred her down the long halls. She’d never been here before and it was unfamiliar, yet somehow she knew exactly where she was going, sort of. She at least knew what direction she was supposed to be moving in and let her feet carry her almost unconsciously.

She turned several corners and walked down a few more halls before she found herself standing in front of an open doorway.

It was leading her here; she could feel it. The tugging had only grown more insistent the closer she got.

It was almost painful now, the insistent pull from within, sharp and bright. Yet, she was afraid of what she would find once she walked through the doorway. What could be pulling her so strongly?

She stood there for what seemed like forever before finally taking the last few steps to enter the doorway.

She glanced around curiously before her eyes fell on a bed on the far side of the room and all the breath out of her lungs.

She opened her mouth to speak, but it took a long time for her to manage any words before one finally came wheezing out.

"Luz…," she breathed.

Across the room was a bed, one far nicer than any she had ever seen with blankets of bright violet, and laying half-covered beneath them, her chest a mass of bandages, was Luz.

She hardly took any notice of Camila sitting at the end of the bed, watching her youngest sleep quietly.

Amity felt frozen, none of her muscles would move for a long while, seized up in silent trepidation before she finally made them move.

Then she was racing across the room and fell to her knees at the bedside.

"Luz…," she choked as tears began to sting her eyes.

Luz was still, her breath deep and even, the muscles of her face laid slack.

She didn't look to be in pain, but the thick bandages wrapped around her chest suggested otherwise.

Ever so slowly and carefully she reached up and out to run her fingers over the god's cheek but instead of warm skin her fingers passed right through her and Amity jerked her hand back.

She looked at her hand with wide eyes, turned it over, and flexed the digits experimentally before slowly reaching out again, and once more she passed through the god of light as though she were made of air.

What was this? A dream? For a dream, she was acutely aware of everything. That she was fighting a war, that Luz was laying here injured because of her. Even in her wildest dreams, she could never forget that. 

Dream or not, it mattered little to her. All that was important was that Luz was laid out here in front of her, and despite her current state, it was the first time Amity had seen her in a number of months and it set her heart to throbbing in her chest.

Even if it was a dream, she wouldn't let the opportunity to speak to her slip through her fingers. She settled her hands on the bed as they clenched into fists.

"I miss you so much, Luz," she started, voice thick with so many emotions all welling to the surface at once. "This is my fault. You were right, I shouldn't have worried so much… I just wanted to make sure you were safe…" she bit her lip and felt the pain as she chewed in. "I... I'm trying to fix this. I just need you to hold on a while longer." Despite knowing that she would pass right through her, she still tried to reach and grab the god's hand.

It phased straight through, but she was certain that as it did, she had felt a certain warmth pass through her.

Suddenly the god stirred. Her head turned and her lips moved silently as her fingers twitched among the sheets.

Amity held her breath for several long moments as the god continued to twitch and mutter incoherently under her breath but after a few moments went still again and Amity let out a disappointed whisper of a breath.

"I know how strong you are…," she mumbled. "You will come out of this… I have to believe that… I'm afraid of what I'll do without you if you don't...," she mumbled to herself, letting her head drop to the bed and let out a weary, quivering breath.

She took a long a few moments to compose herself before she finally looked back up to stare at Luz's sleeping face.

"I love you, and as long as you keep fighting, I will," she promised as she hauled herself to her feet again to look down at her.

The edges of her vision were becoming hazy and she felt a weird sort of light fuzziness start to envelop her. 

She looked down at her hand and found it becoming more transparent by the moment. She looked back up at Luz.

She tried to sear every last moment with Luz she could into her mind. 

She didn't notice the matriarch of the gods had glanced in her direction before disappearing.

Amity's eyes popped open and she found herself once more laying on the ground and looked up at the roof of her tent.

It was bright with the light of early morning and Otabin still laid curled up tightly against her side, back moving gently up and down with the ease of his breaths.

She blinked the sleep out of her eyes. It took her a long moment to remember exactly where she was. She slowly sat up and glanced down at her hands, clenching and unclenching them experimentally as Otabin looked up at her.

She was whole and solid.

It was a dream.

In all her life she had never been anywhere that looked like the place in her dream. Large, golden, and grandiose in every sense of the word; like nothing she had ever seen before.

Still, her imagination had often run wild in her dreams when she was a child. A coping mechanism when she eventually would end up falling asleep locked in some dark closet in Clan Blightbane’s large longhouse.

She sighed. It had just been a dream

And yet, a faint warmth still lingered in her hand that had passed through Luz's cheek. The same warmth that always accompanied a touch of Luz's skin against hers.

Automatically she reached out to clutch her medallion in a tight fist, soaking up its warmth before she began to crawl her way out of the tent. Otabin followed, giving himself a shake once he'd cleared it.

More snow had fallen over the night and covered everything with a thick white powder. Every breath in seared her lungs and brought her to a more alert state.

She would need to do some more trekking around the outside of Stein today, they needed to figure out how to break their way in quickly. They would need more supplies soon, which the village could provide once it had been cleared of invaders, especially since the next village along the coast was the village of Torp.

Just thinking about the place gave her a headache. She'd been there a few times over the years, though now she wished she had paid better attention to its layout and defenses. There had never been reason to since they had always been staunch allies and adherents of Baldur.

A lesson learned for the future. If they had one by the time all this was all said and done.

She could hear a sudden commotion coming from the direction of the main camp and sighed to herself.

She swore if they were brawling again she was going to dump out all the mead they had. They did not have time or the reserves of energy for men to be fighting amongst themselves. With tensions running high as they often did before battles, it was sometimes unavoidable. They had yet to even create a plan of attack for getting into Stein, much less preparing for a battle though.  
She would stop it, but it could wait a moment.

She stretched her arms overhead, enjoying the way her spine cracked back into place with several satisfying pops. It was mornings like this that she really missed her bed and the warmth of her little house on the hill. Though, she would sleep on the ground every day for the rest of her moral life if only it meant they would win this war and Luz would be lying there next to her.

The commotion from camp only continued to grow and it was with a weary sigh that she finally made her way through the snow toward it, Otabin waded his way along behind her. 

Before she could even reach camp proper she caught sight of Viney rushing over to her with an almost panicked expression.

"Amity!" The warrior called as she approached. That was never good, Viney was well known for a lot of things, and being nearly unflappable was one of them, well, until she met the jarl's sister. Emira had a way of doing that to a lot of people though.

"Are they fighting again?" she frowned at her second.

"No… not exactly... You better just come see for yourself," Viney hedged and a single auburn brow quirked up at that.

She followed her second back to the main camp and the moment they rounded some trees she stopped.

Of all the things she had expected to see that morning, none surprised her more than what greeted her by the fire of their main encampment.

Hooty.

Hooty weaving between punches as her warriors tried desperately to land a blow on him. 

He ducked under fists easily, catching two in each hand and smashing them together in a loud cracking sound that made the other wince even as they rushed him, axes and swords now drawn. 

Hooty didn’t seem fazed even in the slightest as he danced around them effortlessly, sword swipes and powerful cleaving blows from ax’s all missed him by inches and miles, movements never hurried or frantic, nor did he seem at all bothered.

A bowman on the far side of camp lined up a shot and let it loose.

The god dipped out of the way of an ax swing only for his hand to shoot out and snatch it by the shaft, wielder included. He jerked it up, just in time to deflect the incoming projectile, smile never leaving his face. Half the camp stopped at that, but not the unfortunate warrior that went rushing in, fist drew back. It seemed Hooty was done playing with them as he snatched the man up by the arm and flung him over his shoulder, sending him sailing through the air and into an embankment of snow on the outskirts of camp a good twenty yards away. All movement from the rest of the camp stopped as they watched one of their allies fly through the air like he weighed nothing.

"Ha ha!" Hooty laughed.

"He came in shouting he was the god of war and they wanted him to prove it…," Viney muttered as she dragged a hand tiredly done her face.

"Hooty!" Amity yelled as she stared across the short distance at the towering pillar of unbridled chaos that was the god of war.

"Champion! Ha ha!" He greeted, throwing his arms out and grinning.

Suddenly the slew of warriors all gathered around him dropped, scraping and bowing in the snow muddied ground and asking for his forgiveness and blessings.

Had he not been so otherworldly tall she may not have recognized the eldest of the five divine siblings. For once in all of the times she had met him, he was wearing a tunic of deep green beneath his rich brown cloak. It seemed that even the god of war got cold if the winter was bad enough.

It took her a moment to shake herself from her stupor after she watched him demolish a good portion of her men and quickly crossed the few yards between them. As always, the god of war was grinning at her brightly, and it was at that moment she noticed the resemblance to Luz she hadn't before, in their bright, face-splitting smiles. It tugged at something in her, especially after her dream.

"What are you doing here?" Amity asked him as she came to stand in front of him.

"Ha, it's a war. I came to help!" He grinned.

All the warriors around her began to cheer at that declaration and Amity had never been so glad to see the god of war in all her life, but another question now weighed on her mind.

"How's… how's Luz?" she asked and the manic grin fell from the god of war's face for the first time since he had arrived and he looked down at her seriously for the first time since she had met him; Amity’s stomach dropped into her feet.  
"She's getting stronger, ha, but she has not woken up," he said and Amity's hands clenched at her sides. She breathed heavily through her nose and tried to look at the positives. She was getting stronger, and if they kept fighting she would wake up.

She had to.

She nodded more to herself than the towering god of war who was still looking at her with an oddly serious expression that seemed uncharacteristic on his face.

"Right… then we keep fighting." She turned her hard golden gaze back up to Hooty, and his face broke back out into a grin.

"We fight, Ha ha!" He threw up his arms and the warriors prostrating themselves around him jumped up. They roared and stomped their feet in agreement, sending a cloud of hot breath into the cold air.

She glanced around and noticed that the listless and dour atmosphere that had hung around their camp for the last few days seemed to have vanished completely with the arrival of the god of war as they cheered and banged their weapons on their shields, making as much noise as possible.

She turned her gaze back up to Hooty.

For all her years on the battlefield, she knew when to turn to a more experienced warrior, and she knew that in the art of warfare, there could never be anyone more experienced than Hooty.

"What do we do?" she asked and he continued to grin.

~ ~

"This seems… ill-advised,” Viney quietly mumbled to her as they crouched down in the snow, hidden behind large trees and rocks.

"He said this was the easiest way, and I believe he can do it," Amity mumbled, running her fingers through Otabin's fur.

"Oh, I have no doubts about him being able to do it," Viney snorted, tightening her grip on her spear as they readied themselves. "I just… if this works I think it will be the most ridiculous thing I have ever seen." Viney grinned and Amity couldn't help but return it.

"Ready?" The god of war asked as he appeared at their side. For someone as large and usually loud as he was he could be very quiet when it suited him.

Amity turned and looked around at the rest of the warriors. Looks of determination set across each of their faces and Amity looked up at the war god and nodded. He grinned and stomped his way through the snow back out onto the main path leading to the village gates.

The moment he did the two sentries atop the gates noticed him, no matter how large he was, he was still just one man and they only watched him cautiously.

Amity watched, restless as the god of war dug his back foot into the ground and grinned before taking off in a wild sprint headed straight for at the gates. 

They followed moments later rushing out of the woods and onto the path with jeering war cries, armor and weapons rattling ominously like thunder.

The sentries shouted, alerting the village just as the god of war collided with the metal-plated gate with all the force of a hurricane and it's doors burst open as though they had been made of straw and twigs rather than solid oak plated in iron; nearly ripped off the hinges. 

The screaming and yelling inside the village started immediately the second the god of war barreled his way inside followed by the southern allies.

It happened so suddenly that they were able to take their enemies by surprise, slaughtering the first few they came across as they scrambled to arm themselves and fight back in the wake of a siege that had lasted less than thirty seconds.

Amity swung her ax, chopping an unsuspecting Glandis warrior in two as another ran at her from her left, sword raised.

He quickly dropped to the ground screaming as Otabin latched his jaws around his thigh, shaking it wildly and allowing his master to deliver a swift killing blow.

They spread out throughout the village quickly and they were met with more resistance now that the invaders were becoming more prepared, but not fast enough to stop the initial cutting down that put them at a disadvantage. Especially as Hooty continued to barrel through a group of terrified Glandis warriors.

Viney was at her back, fighting off a large bearded man with a mace. She threw up her shield just in time for the metal to become embedded in its wood. She jerked it to the side to ram the spear into his guts. He made a keening sound as she kicked him away.

"Okay, that worked perfectly but was still the most ridiculous thing I've ever seen!" she shouted over her shoulder at the jarl as she knocked the mace loose from its place still stuck in her shield. “I’m glad he’s on our side!”

Amity could only grin as she batted away mace with one side of her ax only to shove the other side forward into the neck of her attacker.

The space around them had cleared of enemies for the moment and she turned, shouldering her ax to deliver her own quip to her second when movement at the edge of her vision made her lookup. A longbowman stood atop one of the rocky precipices that lined the village walls, bow drawn and aimed straight at Viney.

He released the string.

It was only a second if that, but time seemed slow to a crawl for Amity as she dashed forward. She could see it clearly and her hand shot up and almost unbidden, she felt her fingers close around the wood before she even realized it.

[](https://ibb.co/0Q7BY5n)

Viney stood there, shocked as she looked at the arrow clinched in Amity's fist that only a few seconds ago had been flying through the air straight toward her head.

Amity was shaking, still staring at the arrow as the sounds of battle continued to rage all around them. Hooty's maniacal laughter rang out over the sound of metal clashing against metal.

Viney was finally able to make her mouth move.

"When you said your reflexes were faster you meant it," the champion of strength mumbled. She glanced at Amity and her eyes widened further if it were possible. "Your eyes…," she said, mouth hung ajar. "They're glowing…."

"Huh?" Amity blinked and looked around quickly before grabbing a discarded shield, polished to a high shine, and turned it back towards herself. In the metals’ reflection, she could see the faint golden, glow coming from her amber eyes. 

"They've never done that before…," she mumbled.

Another arrow whizzed through the air, just barely missing the jarl and her second. They both jumped, Amity throwing up the shield as a third arrow embedded itself into the metal.

"Figure it out later!" Viney shouted as they were once more thrown into pitched battle.

With Hooty to inspire them and tearing through their ranks just as fast as they could take up arms, it only took about an hour to clear the entirety of the village of its unwanted visitors and by the time the moon was directly overhead the victors had all gathered in the mead hall, the freed people of the village tended to their wounds as they cheered and drank, toasting their glorious victory to the gods of light and war.

Amity quietly snuck away from the festivities and made her way outside where the god of war was standing, looking up at the sky full of bright stars. The snow clouds had moved away, leaving only a dark expanse of night sky filled with bright, twinkling stars and a sliver of the crescent moon. The sigil in her ax glowed, providing her with light.

He didn't acknowledge her at first, but she was sure that he knew she was there. She looked up at the sky, gazing at all the bright, incandescent stars.

Her fingers reached up to brush her medallion as her eyes were inevitably drawn to a certain smattering of stars in the sky. Their focal point, a faint green-tinted one.

"You miss her." It wasn't a question.

"Everyday," she answered it anyway. He hummed in response. Something about his presence, when silent, was comforting.

It was strange to think, but Hooty and Luz shared the greatest resemblance among the five vastly different siblings, especially considering she had a twin, as both were of a sort of similar, jovial, and sweet temperamented nature. 

When the God of war wasn't starting a fight with every other person he met or barreling through barred gates, that was.

Amity chewed on her bottom lip thoughtfully. She wanted to say something but thought better of it and settled for thanking the lord of war instead.

"Thank you for your help today," she finally said and Hooty looked at her and grinned.

"Anything for my sister and her champion, Ha!" 

Amity huffed a chuckle at that, and they turned their gaze heavenward again for a long quiet while. The bearskin cloak kept away the worst of the chill as they did, she pulled it tighter around her; Luz had been right about it.

Finally, he turned to her.

"I must go now, ha. Boscha needs my help to keep the giants back and there are other battles to join." Amity nodded.

“Right.”

“Farewell, Champion, Ha Ha!” He grinned at her.

Amity watched as he walked away and passed through the village before he disappeared out the gates into the darkness. 

She looked back up at the sky. Her eyes lingered on the stars a while longer before she returned inside to the warmth of the fire to rest and rejoin her men in celebration. They still had challenges to conquer, but for now, she could rest; at least for a time. 

~ ~

Camila sighed to herself as stood at the end of her youngest’s bed, watching the careful rise and fall of her chest, arms crossed and fingers tapping, agitatedly against her arm. 

Luz had still yet to rouse from her long sleep, and though she seemed to be getting stronger, the fact that she had not yet awakened was worrying for the matriarch.

Her fever had long subsided and her wound seemed to be free of taint, yet for the sixth month in a row, she continued to sleep.

She'd heard little from her children as they passed to and fro from the great hall about the condition of the other eight realms. Winter had onset early in Midgard and already mortals were dying from the harsh colds and ever-deepening snows, and they had yet to even reach its peak.

She pinched the bridge of her nose tiredly. Her children were doing all they could, but unlike Luz, they needed to eat and sleep, rest and heal. Hooty was doing what he could in the mortal’s war efforts the last she had heard, while Boscha continued to try and make it to the roots or branches of the world tree to get sap for Luz, but had been repulsed by Frost Giants every step of the way when they weren't trying to make their own advances into Asgard.

Gus had been sowing discord among her troublesome grandson's forces and King was doing his best to keep Winter in check, lest it cover the world before the summer sun could return.

Then, of course, there was the new development she had witnessed the other day.

Her eyes narrowed as she recalled the tingling at the edges of her senses. It had taken her a time to be able to see the mortal crouched at her daughter's sickbed, but the moment her incorporeal form had passed through Luz it had created a certain resonance in the air that had allowed the matriarch to see her.

It had taken all her strength not to react or make a sound as she observed the mortal prostrate herself at her daughter's side, whispering what she thought was unheard words of love and assurance.

One thing in particular poked and prodded at Camila sharply.

'I just wanted to make sure you were safe.'

Those words cut at something deep inside her; at her own good intentions that had ended up having unintended side effects. Mixed with Boscha's scathing words from some time ago, it gave her pause.

How was the mortal, Amity, any different than her? When Luz was but a babe, she had dreamed of her dying a needless death and despite her husband's warnings, she had cast the invulnerability spell upon her; she'd wanted to make sure she was safe.

While for most of her life she had been, it had the unintended consequences of fostering an innate recklessness and lack of self-preservation in her youngest that had inevitably led them here.

She scowled to herself.

"Any change?"

Camila looked up as her eldest daughter stalked into the room looking a little worse for wear, bandages wrapped around one arm and a nasty cut on her chin. Gus trailed in behind her.

"No," she said wearily. Boscha grunted as the two came to stand beside their mother at their sister's bedside.

"I take it you weren't able to get any sap?" Camila asked her gently. The deep snarl that pulled at the redhead's lips was answer enough. 

Camila knew that being unable to get to the world tree had become a point of contention for the god of storms. Every day that she was unable to break through the Frost Giants' defenses made her grow angrier and angrier. 

Unlike most, she was quite well versed in reading all her children, and she knew well enough that Boscha was beyond irritated with her own failings and being unable to help Luz.

"Her wound has almost closed, why hasn't she woken up?" Gus grumbled more to himself than to them.

"The quick onset of winter dimmed the mortals' belief, her strength was all used up just to keep herself from dying, she's still recovering it," the god of storms growled. Gus's grip on his staff tightened.

"All we can do is hope the jarl continues to win at this point. Luz might get worse if she dies and the winter worsens…," Boscha mumbled tiredly as she unconsciously played with the rune engraved ring on one of her fingers.

It had been some time since she'd seen Willow as well, and could certainly use the herbalists' quiet assurances right now. Camila watched the two silently.

Gus let out a violent, frustrated sigh.

"So what do we do until…!"

Whatever he was about to say was cut off by sudden movement from the bed.

All eyes turned to Luz as her face contorted and her fingers began to twitch. The other three gods waited on bated breath.


	26. Chapter 26

Brown eyes slid open slowly, squinted against the bright golden light filtering inside her room. That was the first thing she noticed, the second quickly rushed up on its heels though. something entirely new to her. Something new, sharp, and unpleasant that made her grimace. 

She… hurt? 

Was that what this was? This intense, sharp feeling in her chest that she did not like, not one bit. She grimaced as she tried to make her body move. It took more effort than it ever had to lift her hand to her chest, it felt heavy and she winced as it landed on the bandages wrapped over her torso. 

Yes, this was pain, and it radiated from the left side of her chest in dull, aching throbs with every beat of her heart. She hissed between clenched teeth, eyes squeezed shut as she felt the unpleasant feeling ebb and flow. 

The pain subsided as she moved her hand away and her eyes slid back open again to glance around the room tiredly. She knew it easily; her room in Valhalla. Her fingers twisted into familiar soft, violet blankets. She blinked, still trying to get her bearings as she took in her surroundings. What time of day was it, what had happened? She had many questions.

Eventually, her eyes landed on the three at her bedside.

"Ma- Mami…?" she mumbled around a mouth that felt like it had been stuffed full of wool. 

"You're awake!" Gus nearly jumped out of his skin as a bright grin split his face.

Boscha let out a long-suffering sigh, muscles going slack as her sister spoke her first words in half a year that hadn’t been the jarls name mumbled under her breath.

"Oh, baby, you're awake!" Camila sat herself gently on the side of the bed and took one of the light god's hands in both of hers and squeezed it gently.

"What… what happened, where's Amity?" she asked, looking between her mother and siblings.

"You don't remember what happened at my wedding?" Boscha asked as she stepped closer to the bed. 

"Hmm," Luz hummed, thinking. her memories were fuzzy but slowly becoming clearer at the edges. "We were sitting under a tree, talking and then... we were under attack… I went to find Amity and then…" her eyes widened and she immediately tried to sit up, causing the other three gods to lunge forward at the same time, trying not to hurt her as they held her to the bed, but they didn’t need to as she hissed and convulsed in pain, dropping back to the bed, her hands reached up to clutch at her chest where it was radiating with white-hot licks of bright pain. Something she was wholly unaccustomed to. 

When it finally dimmed to a more bearable level her eyes cracked back open.

“W- What happened, where’s Amity!?” She looked around at them and Boscha and Gus glanced at each other before the god of storms began telling her everything she had missed while she’d been unconscious. Belos, the war, the ever-worsening Winter and Amity’s battles along the coast. 

Luz laid there, silent for a long time, in a stupor as she tried to take in everything her sister had just told her. 

Six months.

She had been unconscious for the last six months and a deep, cold winter had enveloped most of Midgard while she had been laid up in bed.

Amity was out there, fighting battle after battle, to stave off Ragnarok; to make her stronger.

Her chest throbbed again but this pain was different than the ones that had racked her earlier. This one she was more intimately familiar with; she knew this pain.

Fear and worry about her betrothed. It pulsed angrily through her being and made her wound ache, but in comparison, the pain within was far greater than that of her body.

She could remember it clearly now. The arrow and Amity's back turned to it, her feet moved without her consent, and then she felt it, the first true pain she had ever felt. It was wickedly sharp and Luz had no words to describe it other than that of pain. 

It had stunned her; she had never felt anything like it. She'd heard Amity calling at her back and she'd somehow made her body turn, despite everything in her protesting the movement.

Amity's face had been wide-eyed in shock as she felt herself crumple limply to the ground as the new feeling pulsed through her and stole her breath.

Then Amity had been hovering above her, face panicked as she asked her what was wrong as she laid her hands on her chest. Then she had paused and looked at her hand, and Luz could see it as Amity's face turned white as snow.

Blood.

Bright, red blood painted the jarl's palm and Luz knew it was hers.

She realized exactly what had happened at that moment; the arrow was made of mistletoe

She'd been able to wheeze out her lover's name before she could taste the blood in her mouth and coughed, some of her blood splattering on the warrior's cheek. Something cold and hard gripped her as she realized what was happening, especially as tears began to drip from Amity's eyes.

She was vaguely aware of her siblings arriving, but her focus was on her now sobbing love. Despite the blood filling her mouth and the agony that pulsated from her chest. All she wanted was to stop her champion's tears, ease her lover’s pain. 

Her strength was ebbing fast, but she still somehow managed to lift her trembling hand to gently cup the jarls cheeks, her fingers dragging gently down the skin as her strength failed her, and she winced internally at the trail of blood she left behind on her face.

She'd only barely managed to mumble out that it was going to be okay before her sister scooped her up in her arms, jostling her painfully. Then there'd been a loud crack of thunder and the next thing she knew they were standing outside Valhalla and running down the halls as Luz's world went black.

The last time she had seen Amity she had looked so frightened and pale, with tears dripping down her cheeks and her own blood smeared across her face.

Worry gripped her in its clutches.

How was Amity? Was she eating, sleeping? Was she injured? She had so many questions and based on what she had been told, she knew her siblings did not have the answers she wanted; what she needed to know.

Belos

Just the thought of the name sent hot angry fire coursing through her veins. The slimy, conniving, little bastard! As her sister would say.

He's been planning it all along, he had been ordering them through his champions! Fury like she had never felt before erupted in her gut as someone had just dumped hot coals within.

Not only had he tried to kill her, but Amity and now the threat of an eternal winter was nipping at the heels of all nine worlds.

She made a frustrated sound in the back of her throat and tried to sit up again only for her family to rush in and hold her. Not that it was necessary, the second she tried to sit up again pain set her body to convulsions.

"Luz, you need to lay down, you're still badly injured!" her mother scolded her.

"I need to see Amity!" she argued, trying to find the strength to push back the throbbing pain in her chest and sit up.

Boscha scowled and reached out to press her flat palm against the center of her sister's chest. The younger god spasmed and gasped in pain as Camila and Gus both turned to her with shocked expressions.

"You're injured, and in no condition to even be getting up much less going down to Midgard," the god of storms growled down at her.

Despite the hot searing pain in her chest, Luz glared back up at her sister as she wrapped both her weak hands around the storm of god's forearm. 

"Amity needs me, I need to help her!" she managed to wheeze between gasping breaths of pain as she tried to push the god of strengths hand away but she did not so much as budge.

"Dear, you need to rest," Camila tried to soothe her.

"Luz, you can't even get up!" Gus frowned at her as she continued to struggle. Boscha sighed and pulled her hand away before stepping aside and holding a hand toward the door.

“If you can get up under your own power and go, then go,” the god of thunder said and both Camila and Gus looked at her like she had lost her mind.

Luz continued to glare at her as she slowly and carefully pushed herself just to sit up. Every inch was a shot of agony through her chest protesting the motion, but she ignored it even though she was panting by the time she made it to sit up.

Gus and her mother looked ready to intervene, but Boscha just held up a hand to stop them.

They hovered nearby as Luz psyched herself up to stand.

Her chest was screaming at her, but she forced herself up, then immediately crumpled to the ground.

"Luz!" Her mother and brother shouted. They started to reach for her but again Boscha stayed them with a stern and knowing look, though Camila glared back.

Luz writhed in pain as her chest hit the ground and her world was an explosion of agony. She clenched her eyes shut against the bright pain as her nails scraped the stone floor and her body convulsed.

"You're not strong enough, Luz," Boscha said tiredly. "And you're only going to hurt yourself again at this rate," she scolded.

Tears began to drip from Luz's eyes. The physical and emotional pain in her chest pushed them to the surface.

“But… she needs me…I left her alone...,” she choked around her pain, fists clenched as tears dripped onto the floor. Boscha sighed.

"You know better than anyone just how strong she is. She's been winning those battles for you. Are you really going to make it all for nothing by getting ten steps outside of Asgard, if you could make it that far, just to be killed by one of his champions in your weekend state!?" She shouted down as her thick-skulled sister as she sobbed silently into the floor.

Luz let out another strained cry, but her sister was far from done.

"I don't know what the weakness to your invulnerability is, but I'm sure Belos has given it to all his champions. You walk out of here, especially in your state and you will die this time, Luz, and everything we’ve been doing, what Amity’s doing will be for nothing!” 

Luz only cried from her place on the floor, heaving sobs that made the wound in her chest stab at her painfully, furthering her tears and pushing the cycle ever onward.

Her family only watched till she had cried herself out on the floor.

Camila and Gus wanted to pick her up but they knew what the god of storms was doing. Luz needed to see that she was in no condition to be going anywhere, much less the field of battle where Amity was.

Camila’s gut clenched.

Unlike Amity, she would not be careful, she would recklessly throw herself in harm's way and there was no chance she would come out of it this time, not in her state and with the god of death’s champion no doubt armed with mistletoe arrows should she appear; guilt stabbed at her insides.

After Luz’s tears were spent Boscha reached down and gently scooped her up and carefully deposited her back into the bed. She sniffled, refusing to look at any of them as slow tears still dripped down her face.

“I know you made Amity your champion just because you love her, but she is strong, and she’s out there doing exactly what she’s supposed to be doing, making you stronger. You need to have faith in her,” Boscha said sternly.

“I’m just worried about her…,” she mumbled, wiping at her nose with the back of her hand and staring down at her lap.

“You should see how worried she is,” Gus said, making his elder sister and mother look at him sharply, making him flinch. Luz’s fists clenched into the blankets at that. All she could think of was the look on Amity’s face the last time she had seen her; pale and covered in her blood as tears flooded her eyes. She’d look so scared, and that tore at the god’s heart. The last thing she ever wanted to do was hurt Amity again, to cause her pain. It seemed she had a penchant for doing that though.

“She thinks it's her fault.” 

Luz’s head whipped up to look at Boscha at that.

“What?” 

“She thinks it's her fault, that she revealed your weakness to Belos and blames herself. Was on a self-destructive warpath from what Willow told me when I finally got back down there,” the god sighed, crossing her arms. Now it was Gus’s turn to give his sister a disbelieving look.

Luz twisted the fabric between her fingers tightly at that.

“No…” she shook her head. “It wasn't her fault, I… even if Amity hadn’t been destroying mistletoe when she thought no one was watching, he was still looking for a way to get through my invulnerability, he would have even without her,” she frowned, looking up at her sister.

“That’s what I told her.” she shrugged.

“Mistletoe, that's the weakness to your invulnerability?” Gus blinked. “Huh, never would have thought of that…,” he tapped his chin thoughtfully. Luz nodded.

“I told her when we weren’t talking, to prove I trust her, and I still do, because what happened wasn’t her fault… Amity was just worried about me,” she said.

“Your invulnerability makes you reckless and you almost got yourself killed,” Boscha grumbled.

“So what if I'm a little reckless? My invulnerability has always kept me from harm!” Luz snapped at her.

“If Amity had died she would have come here, Luz, if you die Ragnarok happens!” Gus threw up his arms, making his younger sister flinch at that.

“I know… I know... I just...Amity means everything to me and I want her to enjoy all the things her mortal life can offer her for as long as possible…”

“She’d have all that here in Valhalla,” Boscha argued. 

“It’s not the same!” she shouted, making them jump as she turned a baleful glare on them. 

Gus and Boscha shared a look.

“What do you mean?” The god of mischief asked, frowning. Luz hesitated, twisting her fingers in the blankets and glancing nervously at her mother from the corner of her eye, but Camila only stared back, concerned, and Luz sighed heavily. She’d never given these thoughts voice, afraid of what her mother might think, but maybe she should have a long time ago.

“I mean... my invulnerability keeps me from harm, from pain ...mostly.” She brushed a hand over her chest. “But I can’t feel cold or heat… I don’t get hungry or need to sleep, I’m not ticklish… I…,” she hesitated. “I feel like I’m missing out on everything that makes all the good things so good…,” she mumbled, purposefully avoiding her mother’s gaze and missing the way her face drew up and her fists clenched.

“When Amity heats up water for me to take a bath, I want to be able to enjoy it… be able to feel the warmth of the water… She cares so much and does these things even though she knows I can’t feel it. I never thought about it too much until I met her, and I realized just how much I was missing.” 

None of the other three deities knew what to say to that. They had no idea what it would be like to live a life where everything was tepid and mild, muted; even the good parts. Guilt was clawing up Camila’s throat.

All she had wanted to do was keep Luz safe, instead, she had fostered recklessness in her youngest and deprived her of so much of the life she had wished to protect. She couldn’t bring herself to form words as she bit her tongue. Hieronymus had been right; putting the spell on Luz had been a mistake.

“At the end of the day, only one of your deaths would cause the destruction of the nine realms though,” Boscha knelt at her bedside. “Your life is more important than Amity’s and she would agree with me,” the god of storms said gently. 

Luz glanced at her before turning her eyes back to the bed. She knew that all of it, but she didn’t want to say it. Amity’s life meant more to her, even if it wasn't practical to think that way; she couldn’t help it. 

“I know…,” she finally managed to spit out, much as she didn’t want to. 

“So…,” Boscha asked, leveling her with a stern look, and Luz sighed tiredly, suddenly feeling drained.

“I’ll stay here…,” she mumbled.

“Good”

“Finally awake I see.” 

They all turned as a new voice joined them.

“Dad!” Luz jolted up and immediately regretted it as pain shot through her. He held up a hand as he walked closer, Boscha quickly moved out of his way at the bedside.

“None of that now,” he tutted, looking down at her, pale blue eyes gleaming from behind the wolf head hide pulled down over the top of his face. “How do you feel?” he asked.

“Not great…,” she mumbled and he nodded, folding his arms behind his back. 

“As one tends to be after being shot in the chest with an arrow, you’re fortunate to be alive at all.” He frowned at her.

“If it wasn’t for her champion, she wouldn’t be.” Boscha crossed her arms.

“Yes, I’ve heard about this champion, though I still haven’t had the pleasure,” he hummed and Boscha snorted to herself.

“You haven't even met my wife yet…,” she mumbled. If he heard he gave no indication. 

"I need to help her… somehow," Luz mumbled to herself.

“You need to continue resting, and the two of you have work that needs to be done.” He turned to Boscha and Gus who frowned but nodded and with quick goodbyes the two left, quick to get out of their father's way. There was never any telling what kind of mood he was in.

“Dad I…,” Luz started but her father’s hand just reached out and laid atop her head with a gentle pat.

“You need to be more careful, and you need to rest.” The tone was warm but she knew well enough that the words were not a suggestion and nodded, albeit, reluctantly.

Camila walked over and pressed a kiss to her daughter’s head. 

“Rest, I'll come back and check on you later."

Luz nodded and laid back flat in the bed and sighed to herself as her parents walked out.

Once they were clear of the room and well down the hall, Camila sighed wearily, drawing her husband's silent gaze.

“I should never have made her invulnerable,” she muttered quietly. “She’s so reckless and…and… has missed out on so much…” She ran a hand down her face. 

“I won’t say I told you so,” he hummed. “And I fear she would be reckless even without it. Though, perhaps more to the degree her siblings are; they’re all thoughtless at times,” he snorted, shaking his head.

She couldn’t disagree with that. Hooty and Boscha especially were known to throw themselves into all manner of situations. Gus was a situation onto himself at times, and King often let himself get wrapped up into any of the other four's shenanigans.

“If her champion dies I fear she’ll get worse…” Camila glanced at him. 

The King of the Aesir just hummed, frowning.  
Luz grumbled to herself as she laid in bed, staring up at the ceiling. She wondered where Amity was now.

Boscha had seen her in Kransborg and then Gus at Blikja, and she was heading down the coast, but those incidents had been weeks apart and months ago from the way her siblings talked. Amity could be anywhere.

Or injured and dying… Her chest throbbed hard at the thought. 

No, she couldn’t think like that. Amity was strong, even Boscha and Hooty thought so. Why else would the god of war always be chomping at the bit to fight with her.

She glanced around the room and her eyes fell on a familiar pile of black fur sitting in a chair at her bedside and carefully reached over, ignoring the tight pulling in her chest to reach over and grab it, pulling it back into bed with her.

Her wedding gift from Amity.

She rubbed her fingers across the soft black fur and wished with all her might that she could see her right now; go to her.

As much as she wished it though, she knew that Boscha was right. No doubt Belos knew she was still alive and greatly weakened. He’d probably equipped all his champions with mistletoe weapons to use should they come across her, and as much as she hated the idea, in her current state she would only be a burden to Amity, needing to be protected. The last thing she wanted was to further endanger her betrothed. 

She continued to run her fingers through the soft fur until her hands ghosted over something crusty and stiff. 

It was still stiff with her dried blood and she made a mental note to remind herself to ask someone to wash it for her, but not right now. Right now, she needed it.

She held it to her face and despite everything it had been through and the six months it had been sitting at her bedside, it still smelled like Amity under the metallic scent of blood. 

Like leather and the faint smell from the spindleweed Amity used to color her hair. 

Luz’s chest clenched again and tears stung her eyes. 

“Wherever you are, I hope you’re alright, my light,” she mumbled into the furs.

~ ~ ~

Amity was decidedly not, alright. 

They had been camped outside the village of Torp for weeks now in the dead of the harshest winter she could ever remember and they were still no closer to breaking in than when they arrived. She was always cold and tired and often hungry. 

If they were going to survive the winter they needed to get inside soon.

Easier said than done.

Torp was a fortress, carved into the mountain itself by a people that no longer existed, it was ancient, and It had only one entrance. A pair of giant, thick, metal-plated doors and she knew Hooty would not appear again to aid them in their hour of need.

They were on their own it seemed. 

Amity trudged through the knee-deep snow, breath coming out in thick clouds of frozen air as every breath she took seared her lungs. She could barely feel her fingers or her nose, but she continued on nonetheless. 

She needed to find them a way in before they froze to death or ran out of food. So far all she could find were sheer cliffs of flat gray rocks that even if they could climb would make them easy targets for archers on the cliffs above. 

She let out a frustrated grunt and reached down to rub her numb fingers through Otabin's fur. 

"What are we going to do?" she looked down at him questioningly. He only stared back up at her with bright scarlet eyes, tail wagging. 

"You're no help," she grumbled but scratched his ears affectionately all the same.

She moved to a large rock and sat, staring up at the sheer cliffs, the village safely tucked within and well into their sixth month of being occupied by Glandis.

She grumbled to herself from beneath the hood of her bear cloak that laid atop the one of rich violet that Luz had given her as a wedding gift. True to her word, it did hold in a lot of heat and while her exposed skin was quite cold and numb her back and shoulders remained warm, or at least warm enough that she wasn't freezing like most of her men.

She reached up to rub her fingers over the warm metal of her medallion, trying to get some of the feeling to return to the digits. 

It's ever-present warmth had been one of the few things to keep her going. She had to keep reminding herself that her love was alive and if she wanted her to stay that way she had to keep fighting. She needed to do everything in her power to make the god of death weaker and her own patron stronger.

It was harder some days than others to keep that faith. Especially as winter bit at them mercilessly. As hard as it was for her some days it was even harder for those who were following her, who did not know the extent of what they were fighting for or what it meant, but the appearances of both Boscha, Gus, and Hooty had done wonders not only with their battles but keeping their faith strong. 

At the very least she knew she never had to worry about Viney. Knowing Luz, and many of the others personally, the stout champion of strength was a constant reassuring presence at her side and to their warriors.

Some days were still quite hard though, today especially after a veritable blizzard had all but buried them in their tents and they'd had to dig their way out and move away mountains of snow just so they could start a fire, but the second thing they uncovered was the light alter, and they'd prayed to it before going on to having their morning meal.

Amity leaned back on the rock, looking up into the dark, gray, and cloudy sky. It looked like it could start snowing again at any moment.

She huffed and let her eyes wander the bare gray forest. The trees had long lost their leaves and stood bare and skeletal against the dreary and mountainous landscape. Some birds perched among their limbs and their caws echoed through the empty landscape.

If they ever managed to liberate Torp, the terrain would become flat and beachy again as they approached the village of Brekka. 

If they ever got there.

She shook her head, clearing the self-sabotaging thoughts from her mind. She didn't have time to think like that, she had to be strong, for herself and for everyone else; she didn't have the luxury to be anything else right now. 

For the first time in a long time, she pulled her medallion from around her neck to look down at its face.

The golden engraved insignia still managed to shine even in the dull gray light of day as she ran her fingers over the lines.

"Luz… I miss you, I hope you're doing all right, love," she mumbled before pressing her lips to the metal.

She was so engrossed in her own thoughts that she did not notice the fast approaching sound of flapping wings until suddenly a white raven was flapping and cawing in her face.

She jerked and dropped her medallion into the snow as the bird swept around her face. Otabin barked wildly at it, chasing it.

"Vile little…!" She swung a hand at it only for it to fly back into the trees. She immediately turned her attention back to the ground just in time to see a small dark owl snatching her medallion from the snow and flying off with it.

"No!" Amity's stomach dropped into her feet as cold panic stabbed at her; she gave chase. Otabin trailed behind her as they darted quickly through the woods, or as quickly as the knee-deep snow allowed her.

Her heart was pounding in her ears, lungs burning with her ragged breath as she tried to keep the owl in sight.

She already couldn't have Luz with her. She had to have her medallion; had to!

What would Luz say to her if she had to tell her that she had lost her most precious possession to an owl in the forest?

She chased it closer toward the mountains and turned a corner only to stop dead in her tracks at the sight in front of her.

Set into the mountain in front of her was a dark cavernous hole in the stone, perhaps a few yards across, just wide enough that two men walking side by side could fit through it.

A cave.

She watched the owl as it flew inside, medallion clenched in its claws.

She hesitated only a moment before she grit her teeth and pulled her ax from her back, the sigil on its face lit up as she dashed into the darkness, Otabin at her side.

It was dark, very, but the passage led on upward at a low angle and she wasted no time chasing the sound of wings flapping in the darkness.

She caught flashes of runes and other things painted on the stone walls in the light of her ax as she hurried along the twists and turns of the path. 

She continued to follow the sound for at least fifteen minutes before she could see something up ahead.

Light

She slowed, approaching cautiously, but stopped short as the owl landed at her feet and dropped the medallion.

She blinked down at it as it stared back up at her with wide yellow eyes. It blinked back and gave a quiet hoot before it flew up and landed on a little ledge in the wall. Perched next to it, the white raven from before, it's blue eyes seemed to glow in the dim light.

She wasted no time scooping up the precious bit of metal and putting it back in its rightful place around her neck, hanging over her heart, instantly calming.

The two birds were still looking at her silently and Amity turned her gaze toward the opening in the rock where the light was filtering in.

"Stay," she commanded her companion. He sat obediently, still eyeing the birds above them.

She took slow and cautious steps until her head was sticking out of the rock and back out into the cold open air. she blinked against the harsh light as she looked around and gasped.

In front of her was a large stone ledge that led downward, directly inside the village of Torp.

She quickly ducked back inside the cavern, lest she be seen.

There was another way inside the village! 

She never would have found it if…

Her gays quickly swiveled back to the birds still perched on the rock, looking back at her with a certain intelligence in their eyes before they took flight heading back out the way they had come.

realization struck her just a few seconds after the birds and vanished into the darkness and the sound of their wings had gone.

"Huginn and Muninn…," she mumbled quietly to herself. The eyes and ears of Odin.

The gods were still with them, and that had to mean that Luz was still alive, especially if the Allfather had sent those two.

Luz was notoriously his favorite after all.

Once the shock had passed she quickly dashed back down the path with Otabin and ran straight for camp.

"Hey, I thought you'd be back a while ago," Viney greeted her.

"I know how to get into the village!" she announced loudly and the rest of the camp all turned to her at those words. "Start preparing we leave at sundown,” she announced, and the warriors all gave loud roars of agreement, and then the camp was a flurry of pre-battled preparations.

"How are we going to get in?" Viney looked at her curiously.

"Through the mountain." 

~ ~

They had to move slowly and quietly to keep their movements undetected, and two at a time through the narrow passage to get all her men through, but it went smoothly, and soon all her men had slunk through the tunnel and were waiting, perched on the cliffs.

Darkness crawled over her skin like bugs, making her shiver from something besides the cold, but unless they wanted to be detected she had to let the light in her ax stay dark. Even so, it wasn't completely dark, as dim light from the fires down below filtered up to them, but it was still dark enough to give Amity pause.

It took everything she had to reign it all in. She was not going to let her traumas from the past play a part in stealing away her future. She had let her parents steal enough from her.

She refused to let them take more of her from beyond the grave.

Soon the hour had grown late enough and it seemed the majority of the village was asleep, convinced of their safety within the thick rock walls.

How wrong they were.

Amity led them quietly down the slope, intent to keep the element of surprise for as long as possible. The longer it took their enemies to rally, the quicker they could kill them.

Once they had hit the flat ground of the village proper, her hand shot up, ax aloft.

"For Baldur!" 

The cry was immediately repeated by the hundred and fifty some odd warriors behind her as they rushed into the village.

It was an almost immediate slaughter that took barely an hour as they came upon all the sleeping Glandis warriors, though she did end up face to face with a black-cloaked warrior that came for her immediately.

His sword locked with her ax as they pushed against each other. Otabin jumped at another coming at her from the left and mauled the Glandis warrior as she fought with the black-cloaked champion.

This one wore no helmet, they had all been taken by surprise and half-dressed in some cases.

He started to push her back and she growled before spitting in his face. The second is eyes blinked closed she jumped back letting his forward momentum send him stumbling forward to the ground, but not before he slashed wildly with his sword cutting her across the belly. Amity hissed, but never paused as she raised her ax overhead before burying it deep into his back. Bones rent and cracked beneath the force of her blow and he laid dead at her feet.

Amity panted, reaching down to press a hand over the wound across her stomach, she was bleeding pretty good, but hardly the worst of the wounds she'd ever had.

She ignored it and continued on with Otabin, clearing the rest of the invaders from the village with deft swiftness. The sooner the battle was over the sooner they could rest.

At sun-up they all sat within the village mead hall, finally inside out of the cold weather, their skin warmed by the fires and their insides warmed by the countless flagons of mead they drank as they sang and toasted their victory to the gods; to Luz.

Amity rubbed a hand across her bandaged midsection as she sat on a bench, her bearskin cloak laid across the wood at her side, and Otabin asleep at her feet as Viney sat across from her, nursing her own mead.

"I think that might have been our quickest battle yet once we finally got the fuck inside!" Viney laughed as she drank.

"Once we got inside," Amity agreed.

"Huginn and Muninn, huh?" Viney asked and Amity nodded. "You've never met Odin have you?" the stout warrior asked curiously and Amity shook her head.

"The few times he was supposed to show up to things he had other things to do, but Luz never seemed surprised by it, so I assume that just happens a lot." She shrugged and Viney hummed.

"Luz must still be all right if they're still sending help to aid you," the warrior pointed out and Amity nodded.

She's sorely hoped that was indeed the case.

"I think…," she paused, eyes growing wide and her mouth hung ajar.

"What, what's wrong?" Viney asked, worried, setting her flagon on the table as Amity went stock still and then her hand shot up to her chest, just below her bust, still staring shocked at nothing. "Amity?" 

"It's warm…," her voice was barely above a whisper as tears pricked at the corners of her eyes coming on quicker than she could blink them away.

"What, what's warm?" Viney had no idea what was happening.

"My champion brand…," she finally managed to say. "It's warm…" 

Viney's eyebrows shot into her hairline at that. The jarI told her once before what that meant.

"So…?" 

"Luz…," she choked, smiling as tears dripped slowly down her cheeks. "She's thinking of me…"

Viney just grinned at the crying warrior, but said nothing.

~ ~ ~

"I hate just laying here…," Luz grumbled to herself as she rubbed her fingers through the clean black fur mantle. Her mother had kindly washed it for her, though Luz had been surprised that she had offered after she had told her where it had come from.

She still couldn't get a read on how her mother felt about the warrior. She thought for certain that her mother would be more furious at Amity, yet she was strangely quiet about it.

Her father cocked a brow at her.

"Did we not already discuss this?" He asked, making her shoulders slump. "Until you are stronger, you must stay here, I'm sure your champion is fine," He soothed and Luz just violently sighed.

"You don't know that! What if she's hurt!?" The god of light threw up her arms exasperated. Her father could only roll his eyes at his youngest.

"And if she is, what would you do? Be hurt and injured with her?" Her father's voice took on a much sterner tone and Luz flinched. "If something happens to you there will not be another summer, and not long after that there will be no Midgard, no Jotunheim, and then no us," he reminded her. 

"I know…," she grumbled, turning away. 

The god of light’s worry was almost palpable in the air and the king of the Aesir frowned before a loud caw broke the oppressive quiet of the room.

Luz looked up as a dark brown owl and a white Raven flew into the room to perch upon each of her father's shoulders.

"Ah, perfect timing, both of you." He glanced at them as they chittered and made small cooing and cawing noises in his ears that made him smile.

"You can rest easy for now, they tell me that your champion is just fine." His smile only grew as Luz perked up.

"You sent them?!" She asked and he nodded. 

"it's been made quite clear to me how important the mortal is to you, as I only assumed since you gave her your medallion. The village of Torp is a fortress, but an ancient one and I've been there enough times to know that without prior knowledge of those who lived in it before, it is all but impregnable. I assumed she might need a little aid." He grinned at his youngest, whose face lit up like the sun peeking from behind dark clouds.

"She's okay?" Luz asked and he nodded.

Luz just grinned to herself and clutched the fur mantle to her face, pressing it to her skin.

"Amity…," she breathed into it happily. 

"Have more faith in your chosen, she's quite surprising," her father hummed as he stood and walked out with the two birds.


	27. Chapter 27

As much as she hated to do it, they were forced to stay in Torp for the next two months. The winter had only continued to be bitterly cold and the snow was ever-deepening in the mountain passes that lead back down to the beach and all across the Isle. They wouldn't have been able to get far if they had left, it was more likely they would have frozen to death or starved, and most of her men were weary and tired.

She hated to wait, it felt like they were only wasting time, but letting them rest up before they continued on was the best thing for them all. She wasn't sure how long they would need to stay, all they could do was wait and see.

She kept herself busy, sparring with Viney and the other warriors by day and drinking in the mead hall at night.

Anything just to keep her mind off the time that was being wasted here and what it meant for luz or Midgard.

She wondered how things were back in Boneshaven, how her siblings, Willow, and all the rest of her home village had fared through the winter. There had been no word in quite some time and she could only hope that that was a good thing. She had little other choice but to hope. 

The nights were harder. 

Especially as she would lay in her tent with Otabin curled up at her side, running her fingers over her champion brand. At night, more often than not, it pulsated with a warmth that both filled her with joy and sorrow.

An unimaginable joy that somewhere in Asgard, Luz was alive and thinking about her. Probably missing her just as much as she did, which set her heart to throbbing in her chest, but it was bittersweet on the other hand. She missed her terribly and wished hard that she could be with her again, anywhere, so long as they were together. There was nothing more she wanted in life right now than to hold Luz in her arms again and to feel her arms wrapped around her in turn, feel her warm breath in her ear. The only time she ever saw her was in her dreams, which had become an almost nightly occurrence.

They were always a little different, taking place in different times of the year or different places the two of them had been all across the Southern Isle or in the village, but one thing always remained the same: Luz was always there.

It didn't even matter what they were doing in her dreams. Inane little things usually, and she savored them, even though it always hurt when she would awake the next morning and find that she was alone again; her lover somewhere far away.

She missed the light god's presence with a desperateness that she didn't properly know how to give voice to, so she didn't. She wished there was some way for her to let Luz know that she was thinking of her as she knew the light god thought of her, but ever since they had gotten into the village, there had been no sightings of any of the divine siblings; or of any of the other gods at all.

So they continued to sit and wait. 

When finally, spring rolled around. They were all surprised when the air began to warm and buds began to blossom on the bare trees as the snow slowly began to vanish. The warmth was returning, the god of light was getting stronger and she knew it.

Belos knew it too, and in those two months the village was attacked on three separate occasions, one where they simply tried to burn it down, but the southern allies had managed to repel them each time and hold the fortress by the sea as they waited for spring to arrive in full.

She would never forget that day in early spring when Viney came and woke her, telling her that enough of the snow had melted from the passes to allow them to leave at last; it was more than a relief. 

She’d begun to grow listless, spending her days stalking around inside the stone walls looking for different ways to release the high strung tension between her shoulder and neck. More importantly, supplies had begun to be thinly stretched by the time they were able to leave, but they’d made it.

The air was still cold the day they left, but it was warmer than it had been in months and the warm sunlight on her face was welcome. 

She stood there in the path, face upturned and eyes closed, soaking up all the sunlight she was able. It almost, almost felt like Luz was with her. 

“You look like a cat soaking up the morning light,” Viney had quipped with a grin as she walked by her. 

Once they were on the move the attacks only continued, fiercer than they ever had, and as they had before, they had to fight for every inch they moved down the coastline toward the village of Brekka, the last occupied village on the Southern Isle.

Amity could sense it, a desperateness. Belos was trying to stop them from liberating their home island once and for all. 

But Amity had already decided that they couldn't stop there.

They would need to go to the Eastern Isle, put down their enemies on their home turf if they ever truly wanted this to end. 

One thing at a time.

They still needed to finish freeing the Southern Isle before anything else. There was still an entire village of their own people being kept against their will. 

By mid-spring, they stood poised only a mile outside of the village. Unlike the few that had come before, this one had simply been built on the coast, a sailing and fishing village, though it was also the most heavily occupied yet.

She had expected as much though, to lose the village of Brekka meant that the Southern Isle would be free again, and it didn't seem Belos had any intention of letting that happen if he could prevent it.

Amity’s morning started at sun up.

Today they would attack the village, unlike the few that had come before this one would not require any secret ways in, nor divine intervention.

Brekka was not built like Stein or Torp, it was simply a wooden walled town on the coast. She wished they could just burn the whole thing down and make it even easier, but they had to save the people within, which put them decidedly at a disadvantage, but it wouldn't have been the first time.

It seems that over the last eight months they had been building up the village defenses, though it didn't look like they had gotten very far from what she could tell. Barricades laid half-finished outside some sections of the walls.

The Invaders were just as inhibited by the winter as they had been, forced to hide inside until the worst of the snows had faded.

Now they were here and they were ready, or as ready as they were ever going to be.

She left camp with a wave to Viney as Otabin trotted along beside her. She needed to do final scouting before later.

The woods were fairly quiet as they moved through them silently as they could. She still had yet to decide for certain which angle they were going to attack from. There were a few good options, but she was going to decide today.

She'd taken a chance and gotten close enough to the village a few times to notice that the northern wall was weak, with a few broken panels, no doubt damaged by snow and ice over the harsh winter. 

They would need the element of surprise once more. It was a gamble for sure, to sneak in slowly a few at a time into a place so heavily guarded, but if they pulled it off, would have the smallest amount of casualties on their part.

The other option was to simply storm the front gates, she was leaning more toward that option because if they were discovered trying to sneak in on the northern side it wouldn't be hard to route them. They were prepared for both, having chopped down and carved handles into the large trunk of a tree to use as a battering ram against the gates, it had no metal plating and wasn’t half as thick as the doors of Stein or Torp. One clear shot would shoot them straight inside and into the throes of battle once more. 

Amity was more than eager too as well. True, in the last eight months she'd done more fighting than she had in the last few years, and she'd grown more than a little weary of it all, but as they approached the final village on the coast it was hard not to be eager, to rush forward and finish freeing her homeland from the god of death.

To be done with at least one wearying part of all of this. 

And the closer they came to finishing their fight, she hoped that she was that much closer to finally seeing Luz again.

The dull ache in her chest had never really gone away since the last time she had laid eyes on her betrothed. It had at least healed somewhat since the days that she had thought Luz eternally lost her to her, but she still felt the lack of her presence strongly in everything she did. 

In such a short span of time the god of light had just become such an integral part of her life, every day she woke feeling like she was missing something, as though she had woken up one day missing her right arm.

It couldn't be ignored, and it was more than a little difficult to function without, but she was managing, although some days it felt like just barely.

Otabin was a constant source of comfort as was Viney, someone who she could talk with, and while knowing Emira was also far away, much like Luz, it was still not quite the same for the two of them, but it was close enough. 

When she was alone she took comfort in her medallion and the violet cloak hung from her shoulders. Thought of it more like a promise. That someday, they would have their wedding, and she’d decided that it could be as large, loud, and full of mead as Luz wanted.

All of the god's siblings included, even Hooty.

Just so long as she was there; with her.

Amity held tight to that. It was all she had most days, so she clung to it fiercely. 

Although her homesickness was mostly for Luz. There were days where she got worried sick thinking about how the village was, how Willow and her siblings were doing.

She missed them too and hoped that things were going well. This far away, they never were able to get word from them, but after how harsh the winter had been that didn't surprise her. She just hoped Edric wasn't being foolish as he was want to do and that Emira was okay keeping up with that foolishness and probably missing Viney, she was sure.

Mostly she wondered how Willow was. She still felt guilty about the way they had left things the last time they had seen each other, and she could only hope that when they were reunited the herbalist would accept her apologies.

She'd been right about everything, but her wounds had still been so fresh and raw that she wouldn't hear it, content to drown herself in blood and misery as she had been.

Willow was her first and closest friend and Amity wanted to make things right with her again if she ever got the chance.

For now, though as much as she missed them all, missed the village and Luz, the battles before her were more important and she pushed those thoughts aside for now as she trekked through the woods with Otabin, moving in closer around the outskirts of the village.

It had been fairly quiet most of the morning.

She's seen a small herd of elk and a few rabbits skittering around in the underbrush, but little else.

The trees were all starting to bloom, their small green buds growing and unfurling to leaves as the flowers that had previously been covered by mountains of snow began to pop up, bright spots of color amongst the patches of green grass growing in.

For the most part, the trees were still bare, but the underbrush has already grown back thick and wild with the waters from all the melted snow.

It was still fairly cool out, so the forest wasn’t aggressively humid or hot as they picked their way carefully over large roots and rocks.

When they made it near the village walls she knew right away that the places she had noticed before that were cracked or broken had now been fixed and she cursed under her breath.

That left them with one option and they were going to take it; she was tired of waiting.

The slowly warming days had only made her resolve to return Luz to full strength and back to the nine realms all the stronger.

And as selfish as it was to think, back to her most of all.

The question had now been settled of how they would make their attack, so it was time to return to camp and prepare.

It was halfway back that Otabin stopped dead in his tracks, ears pricked up and tail standing on end.

Amity paused. She knew to listen to the wolf before even her own senses.

They stood stock-still, Amity's ears straining to hear anything in the woods over the normal ambient sounds for the forest. She paid special attention to any scatter of leaves or snap of a branch.

After a few moments, nothing happened and she relaxed and reached over to pet Otabin's head.

"It's all right," she soothed the great white wolf. "Some hares or cats," she mumbled, but still he did not move.

The hair along his back bristled and deep a rumbling growl reverberated out of his throat.

"Otabin…," she started, but before she could make another sound the woods erupted in a flurry of movement, and suddenly three warriors wearing the Glandis colors were bearing down on her.

She jumped back, ripping the ax from her back as Otabin snarled and launched himself at the nearest one, sinking his gleaming white fangs into the screaming warrior's throat and the screams were silenced.

She barely had enough time to block the ax coming her way before she had to quickly retreat farther as the second swung a sword.

She ducked beneath the blade and thrust her own blade forward digging it into his belly.

He choked, dropping the sword and digging his fingers into her arm desperately.

Before she could shake him loose to deal with the second a bright line of fire erupted across her side and she hissed under her breath and shoved away the dying warrior impaled on her ax in time to turn and face the third, brandishing a dagger, stained red with her blood and about to take a second stab at her when Otabin latched onto his leg and he screamed, dropping the dagger as the wolf drug him to the ground shaking his head viciously ripping the appendage loose nearly.

Amity raised the ax overhead before bringing it crashing down square into his chest, ending the struggle.

Once the three laid dead, their blood now feeding the growing flowers, Amity gritted her teeth and looked down at her side.

It was a shallow cut at best, a thin line of blood dripped from the cut and she pressed her hands to it, slowing the bleeding. 

It stung fiercely, but it would be fine. It certainly wasn't going to stop her from leading them into the village tonight.

She shook it off and hung her ax back in its place on her waist before reaching to pet and rub Otabin's ears. 

His white muzzle and chest were stained crimson in a grizzly display that reminded her just what her steadfast companion was capable of as he looked up at her, eyes bright and tail wagging.

"I should know to always listen to you," she told him as she scratched his ears. He made a pleasurable rumbling noise in response.

"We need to head back…"

The rest of the trek back to camp was far less exciting than the first half and Viney spotted her almost immediately when she returned, noting the bright drying blood on her companions' muzzle.

"What happened!?" the other champion asked, concerned.

"We were ambushed in the woods by a small scouting party," she grumbled as she stalked to her tent. She needed to clean up her side and bandage it up.

"You were injured?" Viney asked as she followed along behind the annoyed warrior.

"Just a graze," she assured as she pulled off her cloak. "I have this under control, you go tell them to prepare, they fixed the holes on the northern wall so we're going straight through the front gate," Amity ordered and the warrior nodded before she trotted off back to camp to inform the rest of the warriors.

She quickly bandaged the small wound and then the rest of the day was a flurry of activity, preparing for the siege ahead, though if the warrior of light had her way, it wouldn't be much of a siege at all. 

They would sneak on to the path once night fell and make a rush for the door.

Simple in theory, but what mattered was the execution and still relied somewhat on the element of surprise. They had to get close before they knew what was happening or it would be a hail of arrows coming down on them before they got inside.

This was the only way now, and they were going to take it. 

Her side continued to burn and sting through the day. It was a mild discomfort at best compared to the things she had dealt with before.

At least, at first, it was. 

The closer the sun got to the horizon the worse her side burned and hurt. She also felt nauseous and when she managed to get away from Viney and camp she spent much too long getting sick in the bushes. 

Even once her stomach was empty she still dry heaved for some time.

Her body shook with mild tremors by the time they were heading off and her side was on fire, but she forced herself to keep moving. They didn't have time for her to be ill, they needed to finish this fight.

She needed too, to make Luz stronger.

To fix what she had done.

Despite the sick feeling pulsating through her and the feeling like someone was sticking her with a lump of hot coal in her side, her champion brand heated up and she laid a hand over it and took comfort in the fact that Luz was thinking of her wherever she was.

She held on tight to that thought as they approached the village, carrying the trunk they had carved. They were far enough away that they probably couldn't be seen, but they could see the two guards in Glandis colors standing outside the gates.

Once it started there would be no stopping. She held up a hand and they all paused. Her stomach was rolling and even though the night air was cool, sweat was starting to bead up on her forehead.

She sucked in a sharp breath through her nose, trying to stop the tumultuous movement in her gut.

Viney glanced at her, concerned, but she ignored it and gripped her ax, the sigil engraved upon it began to glow, and then with a silent command they were rushing forward, the ground trembled under their steps and then the guards were yelling and the village was quickly becoming a flurry of activity, but not quick enough as the battered the gates with jarring force, causing the hole wall to shake and rattle as the log made impact.

The wooden gates made a mighty cracking sound as they splintered and split. 

Amity raised her ax and quickly chopped one of the two guards nearly in half as he tried to turn and run. He would have been better off at least trying to make a stand, but it made no difference to her.

They could hear the pounding of footsteps as Glandis archers quickly rushed up the walls, but not quick enough before they could back up and make another run at the gate.

This time the force split the doors wide open and they continued forward, mowing down everyone in their path before they dropped the log and with screaming battle cries charged through the village in every direction, cutting down black-cloaked warriors and Glandis clansmen.

Amity panted as she worked her way through the village with Otabin and Viney at her side, slaughtering their way deeper inside.

Her whole body was trembling now and sweat had begun to drip down her face, chilled by the cool night air.

Her side was on fire and she wanted to vomit again, but she swallowed it back and moved ever onward, burying her ax into skulls and chopping off limbs with mighty swings.

There were so many of them, they seemed to come from every direction, spilling out of the houses and buildings and from around every corner to converge on them.

She never stopped or slowed despite how her body screamed and protested every step she took and every attack she managed to dodge or evade before firing back with a counter-strike of her own, sending heads rolling across the ground and blood splattering the front of her tunic. 

Her fingers tightened around the shaft of her ax, trying to keep her grip on it as it slicked with blood and her muscles spasmed uncontrollably.

Her knees almost buckled at one point as they did, and she had to stop, teeth grit as she stared down at the ground, hunched over.

Viney and Otabin followed along at her side, and the stout warrior was more than a little worried. She could plainly see, after so long fighting side by side, the tremble in Amity’s steps and the hesitation in her swings, not out of any sort of mercy or doubt, but physical exertion. 

She wanted to tell her to stop, to rest, but she knew that’s not an option now, in the middle of a siege to take back the village; but worry gnaws at her gut regardless. Amity had only seemed to grow ever worse as the day had progressed.

She was good at hiding it from everyone else, but Viney knew her. 

Amity hurt, everywhere and she'd never felt so sick before.

Not even after Edric had fed her rancid meat he'd cooked for the three of them for dinner once. 

Black spots were dotting her vision and she quickly blinked them away, forcing herself to stand up straight once more even as every part of her railed against it.

"Are you okay?" Viney blinked at her, eyes narrowed as she watched her carefully.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she managed to bite out. "Something I ate just isn't agreeing with me…," she lied to her second through her teeth, but she knows the other warrior is not convinced in the slightest.

It was just as the battle had been preparing to start that Amity realized exactly what was wrong.

She'd been poisoned.

Her hand drifted to the small cut on her side and the second she touched it winced. That dagger had been coated in poison, she'd never been so sure of anything before. 

She didn't have time for that, especially not now, when they were so close. The southern aisle was almost free and she could practically feel her lover's power growing stronger with every warm sunray that shone down on them over the last few weeks.

She couldn't stop now, she had to keep fighting, no matter the cost. So long as Luz made it, Amity could be content with that.

If nothing else, she was still a warrior, and Valhalla still awaited her upon a warrior's end.

In Asgard, where Luz was.

She would either die fighting here, doing everything she could to make Luz strong and see her then, or she would live and see her again when she was strong enough.

Either way, she was determined to go on; til the end.

"Let's keep moving," she grunted out and Viney looked skeptical but said nothing else, only followed her jarl back out into battle, trying to ignore the way Amity's eyes were glowing faintly in the dim light of the village.

The battle raged well into the night, but in the end, they were victorious and they stood over the lifeless bodies of the Glandis warriors and roared, cheering Amity and the gods for their victory over their enemies and their liberation of the Southern Isle at last.

"We did it, Amity!" Viney turned to the jarl with a grin but it fell quickly as she looked at the other warrior.

Amity was pale, paler than usual as sweat slowly dripped down her face. She clutched at her side with one arm, the other hanging limp as she dropped her ax into the dirt, breath coming out in quick, clipped spurts.

"Amity…!?" Viney called but the warrior was beyond hearing.

Everything burned and blackness was clawing at the edges of her vision as her whole body shook.

"I…," she managed to half spit out before she collapsed into the dirt, vision going black.

"Amity!" Viney rushed to her side.

Blue eyes blinked from their perch atop the village walls before disappearing. The sound of flapping wings vanished into the darkness.

~ ~

Luz grumbled to herself as she paced her room.

She hated this.

Being confined for so long to the halls of Valhalla. Of course, she'd still spent the first three weeks after she had woken up confined strictly to her bed, so the fact that she'd finally been able to get up and move around her room and then the rest of the great hall was an improvement, but it was still stifling.

Ever since she had become an adult, Luz had spent the majority of her life wandering around the nine realms, Midgard especially.

She hadn't spent this much time in Valhalla in a long time, and as much as she loved her family, as they came and went, still quite busy with their own duties, she was dying to go back down to Midgard, and she was getting quite tired of her mother always hovering around worriedly, telling her she needed to rest.

What she needed was to see Amity, damnit!

She ran her hands frustratedly through her hair. If she walked out right now and went to the Bifrost no one would be around to stop her, but something else stayed her.

Belos.

He was still out there, his champions no doubt just waiting for her to show her face and fill her full of mistletoe arrows. Until they had further weakened him and were able to break into Niflheim it was too great a risk to take.

No.

After everything her family and Amity had done to make her stronger, to snatch her back from the cusp of death, she couldn't take the chance of throwing all that away.

She still wasn't at full strength. She could feel it; she was so very close, but until she was, it was just too big a gamble.

She let out a frustrated grunt as she continued to pace quickly around her room, occasionally reaching up to run her fingers through the thick black fur of her mantle. All she had of Amity available to her; it brought her a certain sense of comfort.

Amity was still out there fighting, she knew.

Her father had sent Owlbert not long ago to check on her at Luz's insistence, and the owl had reported back that she was fine and healthy inside the village of Torp, waiting for the worst of winter to pass before the marched in down the coast to Brekka.

It eased her worries somewhat, but that still had been over a month ago. A lot could happen in such a short period and she was always worried about the green haired jarl.

The day's passed so slowly from the golden hall, just waiting for something to happen as they continue to try and push back Ragnarok. 

She hadn't seen King in a while, he was doing his best to try and keep the other realms from freezing over, and then Gus had been off causing chaos and discord among his son's ranks with gleeful joy. Boscha was hardly ever around either. If she wasn't keeping the Frost Giants at bay she took whatever spare moment she had to go down to Midgard and see Willow.

Not that Luz could blame her. The two hadn't even been able to finish their wedding before everything had gone to shit.

She sighed.

Now that she thought about it, she also hadn't seen…

"Luz! Ha ha."

Luz jumped, whipping around to face the familiar voice.

"Hooty!" she yelped at the sight of her eldest brother standing in the doorway.

He grinned brightly at her and in a few quick strides, crossed the room to wrap her up in a hug, though much gentler than they normally were.

Luz didn't struggle, in fact, she squeezed him back, not realizing until this moment just how desperately in need of a hug she had been.

Hooty was dense at times, and most of the time his only thought was of fighting, but he had been the god of lights chief caretaker as a child. When their parents were too busy with their own duties to watch over her, the god of war would scoop her up and take her with him on his campaigns. 

She was fairly certain her parents never realized exactly where they went off together, now that she thought about it, but the god of war would take her with him to the field of battle.

No one ever even got close to them. Hooty was a powerhouse, and Luz had been invulnerable since childhood anyway, but it was her outings with Hooty, following all the different battles and wars that raged across the mortal world that had sparked her love of wandering and seeing new things outside her father's golden hall.

Luz sighed, going limp in her brother's embrace as he squeezed her.

After a long moment, she pulled back to look up at him.

"I figured you'd be too busy to come back here at any point." 

"The fighting has finished on the Southern Isle, Ha ha." He grinned at her and Luz stared up at him with wide eyes.

"It is!? What happened, is Amity okay?!" she fired off questions as she wrapped her fists into her brother's cloak. The god of war only laughed.

"The Isle has been freed from invaders, but I do not know about your champion, sister," he said and Luz slumped. Hooty reached up to ruffle her hair. "Fear not, Ha Ha. She's strong," he soothed and Luz sighed.

"I know… I just wish I knew for sure how she was," she grumbled.

"You should be more worried about yourself." 

The two siblings turned to look as their father appeared in the doorway, arms folded behind his back. Luz sighed again.

"I'm fine…," she grumbled. Her father's brow ticked upward. "I'm… better…," she acquiesced, and he hummed as he walked into the room.

"But you aren't yet well enough to leave Valhalla, much less Asgard," he said sternly.

"I know, I know I just… I need to know!" She threw up her hands, exasperated.

Hooty just patted her shoulder as their father rolled his eyes.

Just as he opened his mouth to speak a loud caw echoed down the hall and a second later, a white raven appeared.

"Ah, perfect timing. I sent him to check on your champion and put your mind at ease." He smiled as the bird landed on his shoulder.

Luz lit up with a bright smile, but it was short-lived as the bird chirped and cawed in their father's ear, making him frown. Dread filled Luz as her stomach dropped into her feet.

"What, what is it!?" 

“Hmmm…” The Allfather shared a glance with the now frowning god of war. “Your champion won the battle at Brekka… and then collapsed…,” he mumbled and Luz’s face went pale. “She didn’t seem to be injured though,” he hurried to assure his youngest, who did not look the least bit reassured by his words.

"Okay, I've changed my mind, I'm going!" She dashed for the door but didn't get very far before her brother's arms wrapped around her. "Hooty!" She kicked and pushed, but the god of war did not budge as he walked her back over to her bed and dropped her there.

“You must stay here,” her father told her sternly.

She quickly scrambled off the bed to stand.

"But Amity…!" She started to shout only for her father to narrow his gaze at her and the walls of her room began to shake and tremble. Hooty grimaced and Luz sighed, slumping to sit on the side of her bed as the walls stopped shaking.

She fisted her hands into the fabric of her pants as tears pricked at the corners of her eyes.

"Amity…," she hissed to herself.

None of the three noticed the quiet movement outside her door as it vanished.

~ ~

Viney sighed as she looked down at Amity, laying flat on her back on the floor of the tent.

Her face was flushed and she was fevered, sweat dripping down her forehead as she twitched restlessly, eyes closed and mumbling under her breath in fitful sleep.

Viney chewed on her knuckle, worried. One of the herbalists with them had taken a quick look at her and the nasty little cut on her side, that while not large, was bright red and swollen, leaking yellow pus and hot to the touch. They had quickly declared that the warrior had been poisoned.

She had not woken from her sleep since she had fallen unconscious at sunrise yesterday.

The sun was now setting, and still, she showed no signs of waking.

While the jarl lay dying they had several herbalists all out searching the woods for any medicinal plants, but it was still quite early in the season and nothing they had already had on them could cure her affliction.

Viney cursed to herself.

If Amity died, a host of bad things would happen. First of all, it was very possible that the alliance would break apart before they could travel Eastward across the sea as she had planned, and even if it somehow stayed together, that would put her in charge.

Viney was confident in her ability to fight, but her ability to lead? She wasn't a leader, she knew that. She couldn't inspire the same fervor or inspiration from the men that they would need in the battle to come; only Amity could do that.

Emira would also be quite upset with her.

She leaned back and sighed to herself. This had become such a mess. She wished Willow were here. The herbalist always seemed to know what to do in dire situations that involved their leader and friend. Viney reached up and pinched the bridge of her nose.

But Willow wasn't here, she was, and she needed to do something; soon.

A quiet whimper made her glance down again to look at Otabin, laying against Amity's side.

He whimpered again and she reached out to scratch his ears comfortingly.

"I know," she told the great white wolf, who only huffed, nosing Amity as she continued to lie still, breath wheezy and shallow.

If they didn't do something soon, she would die.

A small commotion outside the tent made her turn and look before she crawled to stick her head out.

A cloaked woman was standing in front of one of the warriors guarding the jarls tent.

"The champion of light isn't well, no one may see her." He told her sharply, but the short, darker skin woman in a dark blue cloak only held up a small basket of herbs. She looked vaguely familiar to the warrior, but she could not place from where.

"Yes, I ran into one of your herbalists in the forest who said one of your warriors had been poisoned, I came to offer my assistance." 

"No one may see her!" He barked, vein bulging in his neck.

The woman looked annoyed.

"Let her in," They all turned to look at Viney as she climbed out of the tent to stand.

"But…," he started only for the other warrior to shoot him a glare.

"She's going to die no matter what if we don't do something soon!" Viney growled at him and he huffed before standing aside.

"We have no idea what she was even poisoned with, but if you can do something we welcome the aid," Viney told her as she gestured to the open tent flap.

The woman nodded and ducked inside.

Otabin looked up as she entered, scarlet eyes gazing at her curiously. 

Camila patted the beast's head as she knelt at Amity's side and lifted the bandage from her wound and scowled. She knew by the looks of the wound what had caused it right away.

Eitr.

Legendary poison, strong enough to kill even the gods. Though it was also incredibly hard to come by.

She doubted even Belos could get a hold of much, and given that Amity was still alive, even if only barely, meant that nary more than a drop had been applied to the weapon that had struck her. 

No doubt the only thing keeping her alive was her champion's abilities.

Unlike Luz's wound though, she could fix this.

Camila set to quick work cleaning the wound and pressing the special herbs from her garden into it. Amity grumbled and twitched with pain as she did.

"You're stronger than this… and you need to stay strong for Luz…," she mumbled to herself as she pressed a hand to the jarl's side. A faint glow began to emit from beneath her palm.

"She'd be heartbroken if something happened to you…," she said quietly to the unconscious warrior as she hummed and mumbled in her sleep.

The glow faded and Camila pulled her hand away. All that remained was a pale, thin scar. The jarl finally stilled and the lines smoothed from her face as it went slack.

Camila pursed her lips, hesitating. 

"I owe you an apology… for the way I have behaved. Like you, I only wanted to protect Luz, keep her safe, but I have hurt her too. I have no right to condemn you for the same things I have done…," she mumbled, looking down at the now peacefully sleeping warrior.

"But, I suppose I should wait until you awake for that." She gathered up her basket and left the tent.

Viney looked up as she came out.

"I've done what I could, she'll be fine if she wakes soon." 

Viney nodded before disappearing into the tent. Camila quickly hurried off, returning to Asgard.

Viney looked down at Amity with wide eyes.

Her fever was gone, she no longer twitched and writhed with pain, but most curious of all was that the entire cut had sealed and scarred. She blinked before turning and dashing back out of the tent, looking around wildly, but the woman was gone.

It didn't take but a moment for Viney to deduce what had happened.

"If there were anyone blessed by the gods, it's Amity…," she mumbled.

Camila's return to Asgard went relatively unnoticed as she passed Hemdall with a nod and walked quickly down the corridors of the great mead hall.

Luz was still sitting forlornly in her bed when she peeked her head inside the room.

She was staring out the window and unconsciously running her fingers through the black fur of her mantle.

"Luz?" she called, making the god of light look up.

"Oh, hi, Mami," she said quietly, letting her gaze turn back out the window.

"You don't need to look so solemn, your champion is going to be fine," she said, walking over to sit next to Luz on the bed.

"How do you know that?" she turned to look at her, her face a mask of desperation. 

"Because I went and saw her myself. She's going to be fine, dearest." Camila set a hand on her daughter's shoulder. "She was poisoned, but she's going to be all right now," she promised.

Luz blinked shocked brown eyes at her.

"You went down there and cured her poison?" she asked and her mother nodded. "Why?” she asked in disbelief. “I know you don't like Amity… you think she's a danger to me…" Luz frowned.

Camila sighed.

"You love her and she makes you happy…," she paused, curling her hands together in her lap. "And... I have no right to condemn her when I have done the same thing…," she finally admitted to her youngest.

Luz just blinked at her.

"When I placed the invulnerability spell on you, I just wanted to keep you safe, Luz...Instead, all it did was make you reckless and thoughtless," she bit out angrily, but the anger wasn't directed at Luz, but herself.

Luz opened her mouth to say something, but before she could so much as breathe a word her mother went on.

"Worse yet… I gave you a life free of harm but one that was only half worth living…," she admitted, looking down at her lap, unable to look her youngest in the eye. Luz bit her lip. Her mother was right, but the last thing she had wanted was to make her feel bad..

"In trying to protect you from the woes of the world... I deprived you of all the good things that made it worth living." She finally looked up at Luz. "And I'm sorry for that.” 

Luz wasn't sure what to say to that. Her mother wasn't wrong, but she also didn't want to make her feel worse than she already did.

She settled for nodding.

"Thank you, for saving Amity," she said quietly and Camila nodded and paused before locking eyes with her youngest once more.

"There's something else, Luz…"

~ ~ ~

When Amity awoke the next morning bright light was filtering into her tent from the open flap, onto her face.

She squinted against the harsh rays of the sun and grumbled to herself. She squinted against it and turned her head, trying to escape it, but to no avail. Finally, she opened her eyes, against her will, and was met with a wall of white fur.

She smiled to herself and reached out to run her fingers through the wolf’s fur. She no longer felt deathly ill, in fact, she felt better then she had in some weeks, refreshed almost, and strangely thoughtful as she sat there in the quiet, Otabin was still sound asleep at her side and the low noises of the nearby camp filtering into her tent.

Slowly she sat up and carefully crawled out of the tent.

Viney noticed her immediately.

“You’re awake!” The stout warrior trotted over to her with a bright smile. “How do you feel?” she asked. 

“Good,” Amity said, and for the first time in a while, she meant it. She couldn’t explain it, but she felt good. Her brand was warm beneath her tunic, a soft, constant reminder, and her aches and pains that had been plaguing her the last few weeks had seemed to vanish. “What happened?”

“You were poisoned and dying,” the champion of strength said, frowning. 

That’s right. She reached and slid her hand under her tunic, feeling for her wound but found only smooth, healed skin, the barest hint raised up, indicating a scar. 

“A healer showed up and treated you, and I’d bet anything they were not mortal.” Viney crossed her arms. Amity was inclined to agree. “She looked familiar, but I couldn’t remember where I’d seen her before… a little taller than me, darker-skinned, older, dark brown eyes…,” Viney described her healer.

“Camila…” Amity frowned the second she realized who Viney was describing.

“Like… ‘the mother of the gods’ Camila?” Viney blinked. “I thought she hated you?” Viney cocked her head.

Amity thought so too.

“Either way… we won the battle, the Isle is free of Glandis and I’ve spent the last two days convincing everyone to go with us to the Eastern Isle once you woke. We’re ready to follow you when you’re ready to lead.” Viney grinned and Amity nodded, turning to look at the sea.

“We’re going to need boats…,” she mumbled.

“Got ‘em” Viney cocked her thumb over her shoulder at the longships sitting in the harbor. 

“Then we leave first thing in the morning, let everyone know.” She turned back to Viney, who nodded and quickly walked off into the village, leaving Amity alone. 

With nothing else to do at the moment, she walked the short distance to the docks and planted herself down onto the wood, feet dangling over the edge, and let out a long sigh.

The Southern Isle was secure, but still, there was much to do. She just wanted a moment to sit and breathe. She glanced down at her reflection in the bright blue water lapping at the wooden poles that held the dock up.

Her hair hung loosely around her scarred face and she reached up and ran a hand through the loose strands, it had grown longer, she’d need to cut it soon; she’d always found fighting with it long to be too inconvenient. She hummed to herself as she ran her fingers through it. The last time she’d seen herself, her roots had grown out quite a ways and were even longer now. Long streaks of bronze-colored hair, bright against the dull green.

Maybe it was time to stop staining it.

Anytime someone had suggested it in the past, it had caused pain somewhere inside. It had been one of the first things she had done after Azura’s death, a sort of tribute to the departed Jarl, but now, it seemed like it was time. 

She felt like she was no longer living in her mentor's shadow; she was a leader in her own right. The departed warrior would always hold a place in her memories, but it was time. 

She glanced up at the bright horizon, the sunlight sparkled off the distant waves and she reached up to run her fingers over her medallion.

“Soon, Luz,” she promised aloud.

Finally, they would get to burn something to the ground.


	28. Chapter 28

They set sail with the first rays of morning. Four longships packed with the warriors of the Southern Isle.

Now it was their turn to go on the warpath, and Amity was as ready as she was ever going to be.

She had never left the Southern Isle, so she wasn't exactly sure what to expect, but other warriors had, especially those from Brekka, who dealt mostly in seafaring and fishing.

The other Isles weren't all that much different than their own really, which set the warriors’ mind at ease some.

Their main concern would be the Eastern Isle’s main inhabitants: Clan Glandis, whom they had spent the last eight months butchering all across the coast of their homeland.

Now they would take the bloodshed straight to them and neither the other warriors nor Amity had any interest in sparring anyone, if the innocent village people that lived on the Eastern Isle didn't want to die they would get out of their way. This was a war.

The day was fair and bright, a strong wind carrying them to their destination, which was a two days sail away from their own.

Luckily they had far more experienced sailors with them because outside the one time she and Luz had been out on Hringhorni sometime ago, Amity had never really sailed before. Gus had sailed it himself with his copies and then Luz had done most of the work. She lived even farther inland before she came to live in Boneshaven

She stood at the bow, watching the seemingly endless expanse of waves out in front of them as the ship cut through the water at a quick clip.

Salty ocean spray misted her face and made her squint. The warm sunlight filtered down on them and she soaked it all in. Enjoying its warmth and not for the first time that day thought of Luz.

She had to be nearly well by now, right?

She wished she'd had the chance to talk to Camila, ask her how Luz was, even if the god didn't much care for her. Or, at least she thought she didn't. She didn't know why the matriarch of the gods had come to save her, though she had a guess.

It was Amity leading the light adherents in battle to make Luz well again, and if she died, they might all just go home without doing anything to stop the god of death that had been plotting to cause Ragnarok. Even if Camila didn't much like her she surely would prioritize her youngest's life over her dislike of Amity.

She wouldn't blame Camila if she did hate her after what had happened though.

If she had only listened to Luz and left the mistletoe alone, she would never have been hurt to start with. Belos would never have found the secret to her invulnerability and so much pain over the last eight months could have been easily avoided.

But it was too late for regrets. All she could do now was her best to make up for it, to atone for what she had done both to Midgard, her people, and her love.

She sighed and reached down to run her fingers through Otabin's fur as he stood on the bow beside her, tongue lolling out of the side of his mouth as he too watched the sea go by, his tail wagged and nose twitching constantly.

She turned her mind to the coming battle. She had no idea what kind of defenses they had on the Eastern Isle, or what she should even begin to be prepared for, but she planned their offense regardless.

They would destroy it all, set fire to every wall that stood in their way, and cut down every warrior that tried to stop them. Whittle down the god of death's followers until he was a husk of his former self.

Amity would settle for nothing else. This was more than just about making Luz strong again, though that was the most important reason. It was also about vengeance, for all the lives that had been taken in Belos' initial attack on the Southern Isle. For the innocent villagers and warriors that had tried to defend their homes and fallen, the warriors of the south would answer in kind.

Spare nothing bearing the Glandis colors, nor shrines and altars bearing the god of death's sigil. She would destroy them all herself if she had to. Whatever it took to make him as weak and fragile as Luz had looked the last time she had laid eyes on her. 

The unimaginable, burning rage she had felt when she had first set out on this campaign eight months ago had returned, but untainted by grief and self-destruction. Now it was purely burning, white-hot anger; for Luz, herself, and her people.

For her home, the village that she had poured all her free life into, and for the other villages of the south that had stood with her during the slogging campaigns down the coast and through the harshest winter they had ever known. For everything they'd had to bear and suffer; the Eastern Isle and their god would answer for it.

She turned her back on the sea and the bright sunlight as she sat, Otabin and Viney at her side as she pulled out her ax and sharpened it with slow, practiced strokes of the wet stone, if for no other reason then to keep her hands busy during the long voyage, but her mind was always elsewhere as it often was these days when her eyes fell on the light sigil engraved in the blade.

They felt so close and yet still so far. Amity's thirst for vengeance was outweighed only by her unquenchable desire to see Luz again.

It had felt like it had been an eternity since she had seen her last. Honestly, some days it felt quite pathetic that she felt this way. After so long of being on her own, and having to take care of herself, that she relied so wholly on someone else to make her happy.

But

Luz made it so easy.

Everything about her drew Amity in like a moth to a flame. Luz had a naturally warm and welcoming presence that just had a stranglehold on her and Amity was all too happy to let it choke her.

Being with her made the jarl feel a way she never had before. 

So wholly adored, and wanted that it sometimes made her dizzy with its overwhelming power. The gods' love and affection were like a cool balm on the wound that her heart had been all her life; rubbed raw first by her parents and then the death of Azura. 

All she had to do was smile at her or wrap her arms around her and the frayed, tangled and knotted, threads of pain and loss inside her seemed to tug a little looser every time.

More than that, Luz's free and easy nature made it hard for Amity not to relax in her presence, to just be herself with her, the way she found it difficult with others; even her siblings and Willow at times. She never worried the god of light would think ill of her, judge her. She wasn't a warrior, protector, or a leader to look up to; she was just Amity.

The god of light and joy was just that. She was all brightness, warmth, and happiness, and even if it made her feel so wholly pathetic at times, she was alright with that. Luz was the only one who could make her feel that way, and she didn't mind at all.

She just wanted her back, she ached so badly to have Luz back at her side. An ever-present source of warmth and joy in Amity's life that she missed with a fierceness that she could never hope to describe to someone else even if she had the rest of her life to do so. A feeling that was intensified tenfold by the knowledge that Luz felt the same way about her.

Somedays, she wondered why? What she could give the youngest of Odin's children that she could not get from someone else; someone who would be considered more her equal than Amity?

Even if she didn't understand it, she was glad for it.

Her finger traced the sigil on the ax unconsciously as she thought about the last time they had been together before everything had been set ablaze in the fires of war.

Beneath that tree in the village, talking about their wedding and the possibility of having a family of their own.

The memory still stung her sharply, though not half as much as it had in the first few days that followed, thinking Luz had died. The whole memory had been muddied by the pain and grief that had consumed her when it should have a beautiful one.

Even if the reason for her grief had been false, the lingering pain of that anguish still clung to the memory, like the scent of smoke after a fire; made it painful still to think of. Even after the fire had been doused; the char remained at the edges.

She sighed through her nose and set her ax down at her feet as she leaned back to look up at the bright, blue sky. A few whispers of thin white clouds marring its otherwise clear face.

"Take a nap or something, you look tired." Viney looked over at her from her place leaning against the side of the boat, arms crossed. Amity grunted. She'd only gotten up a few hours ago, but she was tired. She's had another dream, but this one hadn't been about Luz.

She wished.

_She found herself in a long stone corridor, the square cobblestones were uneven and chipped, raised up as roots pushed them up and askew in places; cracked and broken in others_

_The whole place was dim and gloomy. That alone set her on edge, but for some reason, the fear that normally gripped her in the darkness was abated here. A low hum in the back of her mind that still made her skin crawl, but it wasn't the same overwhelming, suffocating feeling that usually accompanied the gloom of dark._

_Nor was it totally dark, somewhere in front of her was a faint glow, but unlike the kind she was used, to or that accompanied her lover wherever she went, it had a cold feeling to it._

_A certain dread._

_She made her feet move forward, carefully picking her way over the larger root that looked to overgrow the pathway. Her boots scuffed quietly over the stone, but curiously, there was no echo in the cavernous, empty pathway. It was disquieting and made goosebumps erupt across the backs of her arms as she moved closer to the dim glow._

_The walls seemed damp and moldy as she moved along, but did not reach out to find out if they were._

_When she reached the light she found it to be dim fire lighting a large room from torches set in the walls, but their fire was unlike any she had ever seen._

_It was pale blue, almost white, but it flickered and crackled like fire._

_She glanced around and her eyes landed on a great stone throne, carved from the same stone as everything else, and in it sat a familiar figure._

_Rage bloomed in her chest as her eyes landed on the masked form of the god of death, Belos._

_He sat in the great throne, fingers tapping incessantly on the armrest, the clicking noise of his nails echoed through the room as glowing blue eyes glared down at another figure, dressed in black prostrated themselves before him on the floor._

_"We're doing everything we can, my Lord…."_

_"Do. Better," His voice was low and guttural, the statement was punctuated by the cracking of stone as his hand ceased its tapping to clutch the armrest, cracked beneath his grip._

_"Of course," was the timid reply._

_"Go,"_

_About another word the black cloak figure stood and turned, walking straight toward her down the corridor._

_He didn't seem to be able to see her and she was proven right as he walked right through her._

_Amity shivered at the sensation as he passed right through her like mist._

_Belos' head jerked up and glowing blue eyes narrowed from within the darkness of his helmet as he stared out into the room._

_"Ah… I thought I felt a familiar presence." His eyes bore straight into hers. He could see her._

_Amity said nothing, only grit her teeth and glared back defiantly._

_"Astral projection… now that's a rare ability… no doubt bequeathed to you by my aunt," he drawled and Amity scowled._

_"You didn't kill her… Summer is coming back," she snarled lowly._

_The god of death merely scoffed._

_"Perhaps she did not die… but do you truly think the return of a lukewarm summer after a winter such as that means that your petty battles have succeeded?" His voice was tinted with amusement as he looked down at her._

_Amity's fists clenched._

_"You're naive, mortal," he cocked his head. "Perhaps you and my aunt are perfect together," he chuckled to himself and Amity's lips pulled back in a snarl. "The shepherd of the summer sun remains just as frail and weak as from the start," his voice hissed out of his mask. "Every winter from here till the end will grow worse and worse till it buries the nine realms completely."_

_"You lie, that's… that's not what Hooty and Boscha said!" Amity roared at the death god._

_"You think they would tell you that your battles were meaningless? That nothing you did would help her?"_

_"They have no reason to lie to me," Amity said defiantly and this time the God of death laughed. A grating, barking sound from behind the golden metal._

_"No reason?" he asked, amused. "Do The mortals not exalt them as well when the battles are done?" He asked. "Do they not cheer and clamor for Strength and War as much as they do light?" Amity only continued to glare at him._

_"I knew you were naive, but I did not realize you were also a fool. Everything among the Aesir is a struggle for power and the adulation of mortals to strengthen that power. Once more, you're being used, mortal."_

_"No," Amity shook her head. "I know better, they wouldn't lie to me." She insisted._

_Belos scoffed._

_"You once thought my aunt wouldn't either, and yet…" he trailed off as Amity's chest constricted painfully._

_"...so why wouldn't they?"_

_Amity trembled, looking down at the stone floor. No, she knew that wasn't true. She had lied to her once, but never after. She trusted Luz, who trusted brothers and sister._

_Belos' voice once more made her eyes snap up to him._

_"Your struggles have been for nothing."_

_Before she could form a sentence to answer, she felt that strange fading feeling again and realized her form was vanishing._

_She looked back up, glaring at him as she vanished._

She'd woken up sweating and angry, which had made for quite the tense morning for everyone involved.

"I'll sleep in a while," Amity grumbled, turning her head to glance at her second, who stared back at her for a long moment before nodding.

"It's only a two-day trip, but depending on the sea, who knows." the champion of strength turned over her shoulder to look at the endless expanse of water stretched out around them.

Amity hummed in response as she sat back up and retrieved her ax once more, she just needed to do something with her hands as nervous energy courses through her.

She knew it wasn't true, knew someone like him had to be a liar.

But she couldn't put the thought of Belos' words out of her head.

How was Luz, really?

Would the others tell her it wasn't getting better?

She wasn't sure about Gus and King hardly ever seemed interested in her at all the few times they had crossed paths, but Hooty and especially Boscha would, she was certain.

The god of storms was not known to mince words after all. 

A salty breeze blew through her hair as they sailed along, the boat dipping and swaying with the gentle waves.

She had to hold tight to her faith, that was all she had. 

~ ~

On the morning of their second day at sea, a deep rolling fog had moved in, so thick they could only see ten yards in any direction, much less what direction they were going anymore.

Amity had to make the hard decision for them to stop and stay where they were, lest they get turned around and lost even further out to see.

It was the third day and here they still sat, adrift at sea, waiting for the impenetrable fog to finally lift so they could go on, but it remained, even at night, blocking their view of the stars and making any sort of navigation impossible. 

With no sense of direction, they couldn’t even turn back much less go forward. They were stuck, and tempers were running high on all four ships as they sat crammed together, adrift in the middle of the ocean with no sense of when they would ever be able to continue on. 

The men were bored and had begun to keep themselves entertained with games of knife throwing and taking bets on the latest drama to unfold in their lives: A torrid love affair between Sven of Kransborg and Throm of Redstone, who on their second night were caught in a rather compromising position in another boat.

Amity was only hearing bits and pieces from Viney, who with nothing better to do had become greatly invested in the two men’s seeming whirlwind romance.

“Then he whittled Sven a knife from a chunk of wood he had, it was nice work too,” Viney told her as they sat back on a section of the bow. Amity hummed in acknowledgment as she braided together a few strands of leather into a braided strip to tie back her hair. The old one had just about worn out and her hair kept slipping into her face. “Then yesterday they got into a screaming match about how Sven was looking at Vin Okinson…” the warrior shook her head.

“Wow....” Amity drawled, turning her work over in her hands.

“Then a great sea monster rose out of the water and ate Vin, so they made up.” 

Amity blinked, turning to look at her. “What?” 

“Just seeing if you were listening.” She grinned. 

“Against my will…,” the jarl said, turning back to her project. The other woman gave her a sharp jab with her elbow, making them both chuckle. 

“It’s not like we have much else to do right now,” The spear wielder hummed, leaning over the side of the boat, looking through the thick fog. “Otabin is having a good time,” she laughed, seeing the great white wolf in another boat, enjoying the attention being lavished on him from all the men feeding him their scraps and playing with him.

“He’s going to get fat,” Amity grumbled even as she smiled. 

“But he’ll be happy and fat,” Viney. 

“Well, I don’t want him to be fat!” Amity gave her a shove and they laughed.

“You think I should make Em something?” she asked as she plopped down next to the jarl.

“The last thing Emira needs is a knife,” Amity grinned and Viney chuckled. 

“No, no, not a knife. She definitely doesn’t need a knife.” They sat and talked quietly amongst themselves for a while. Despite it being their fourth day at sea, the men seemed mostly content today, two ships were playing games and talking. 

She was so engrossed in her conversation with Viney that it took her a few minutes to notice the voices growing louder at the other end of the boat.

“Uh-oh,” Viney mumbled looking up.

“What?” the jarl cocked a brow at her. It wasn’t like they didn’t all argue with each other all the time, the last few days especially. 

“That big guy is from Stein and the little bald one is from Blikja. Years ago the two villages had some… heated disagreements that they still get all bent out of shape about.” She nodded toward them. “And this might get out of hand…,” she trailed off as the yelling grew louder.

“You son of a whore, all you Blikja bastards are a bunch of liars!” The stein warrior shouted, spittle land on the bald man’s face. He snarled and gave a shove, which was quickly retaliated with a harder shove. Amity stood and started to make her way over with Viney behind her.

She could hear more sounds filling the quiet fog and Amity looked over at the other ships, a quiet din had begun to grow as warriors from Stein and Blikja began to argue with each other.

“This is about to get out of hand…,” just as Viney said that the warrior from Blikja suddenly shot forward and the Stein warrior raised his arms as a dagger was buried in his arm. He cried out and dread-filled Amity.

This was about to become a blood bath amongst themselves. She couldn’t let that happen, let them fall before they even arrived.

She shouted and jumped up onto the bench seat and shouted over the growing yelling.

“That’s enough! Viney, you two, she pointed at two Redstone warriors nearby who jumped at attention. She nodded in the bald warrior’s direction and the three quickly converged on him, along with a few others nearby who quickly disarmed him and wrestled him into compliance, tying his hands behind his back and forcing him to his knees at her feet. 

Amity frowned, they had to maintain order amongst themselves or they would destroy each other before Belos even had a chance to.

“We cannot let old and pointless, rivalries stand in the way of winning this war!” she shouted to be heard by the other three ships floating nearby, watching. “Fighting amongst ourselves is exactly what the warriors of Glandis want! If we destroy ourselves they don’t have to do a thing, and we will lose!” It stayed quiet save a few quiet murmurs of agreement. “I refuse to let that happen.” She stepped down and in one swift motion, snatched her ax from her belt and swung, severing the bald warrior's head from his neck, causing it to roll across the floor of the ship.

Everyone stared at her with wide eyes, including Viney as she then hauled the body over the side into the water.

Once the shock had worn off things quieted again across all four ships and Amity settled back in her place with Viney at her side. The champion of strength’s lips were pursed and brows furrowed. 

“Was I too brutal?” Amity mumbled, glancing at her. Viney jerked up at that.

“No, no… you did the right thing. We’d slaughter ourselves out here otherwise… I just wish it hadn’t come to that…,” she sighed.

~ ~ ~

By the end of day four Amity stood at the bow, arms crossed and tapping her fingers against her bicep, agitated as she stared out into the thick gray clouds that surrounded them from every direction. 

It was starting to get dark, and still, here they sat. 

They were going to have to do something soon or they were going to run out of food and water before long. They had not prepared for an extended journey.

She sighed to herself as she listened to two men somewhere behind her start arguing again, getting louder and louder and agitating her further. She was just about ready to turn around and tell them both to shut up when Viney beat her to it, barking at them that if they didn’t have a solution for their problem to close their damn mouths. 

It instantly quieted again. Few wanted to get into it with Viney after she’d thrown a man overboard just that morning, only fishing him out of the sea when he had sufficiently ‘cooled off’, and especially after yesterday’s display of brutal peacekeeping.

She finally turned and plopped herself down next to Viney.

“This fog isn’t natural…,” she mumbled to her second, who looked at her before she turned her gaze back out to the dense of all around them. 

“Belos?” she whispered back and Amity nodded. 

It couldn’t have been a coincidence after her dream the other night. He was trying to waylay them, starve them to death in the middle of the ocean. Her hands fisted into the fabric of her pants.

She wasn’t sure what they were going to do. They couldn’t even go back to the Isle because they no longer had any idea what direction it was in. 

They were stuck.

She was furious, but it also proved beyond a doubt that everything he said had been a lie.

If her battles and struggles against him were for nothing, he wouldn’t have been trying so hard to stop her. No, Luz was getting better, she had to be; she had to believe that.

That knowledge didn’t help them at the moment though, not unless Luz appeared and burned away this fog. 

How she wished that would happen. For more selfish reasons than just finally being able to make landfall. 

Till something changed, all they could do was wait. 

Darkness had almost completely settled over them for the seventh time since they had left Brekka and Amity was laying back in the boat staring up at what should have been a bright sky full of stars, with Otabin’s head laying across her lap. Her fingers rubbing and scratching through his fur. She was hungry, they all were. 

They had run out of food and water yesterday and still, they sat in this unnatural fog, waiting for death; perhaps in a more literal sense than she would have liked. 

The men were angry and hunger only furthered the tempers running rampant on all four ships.

Several fights had broken out over food yesterday and Amity had to step into one of them, taking a stray shot to the mouth that had made everyone else stop what they were doing as Amity proceeded to beat them both senseless before splitting what they had been fighting over and dropping it at their feet. 

She was just as tense as everyone else, but someone had to be a voice of reason or it would devolve into a bloodbath on board. 

The chances were good they would die of thirst long before they starved to death, not that she relished that option any better. 

She could feel it setting in though.

Her mouth was dry and thirst scratched at her incessantly, but her waterskin had been sucked dry the day before, as had most of theirs. She could tell, a few of them were looking over at the ocean water lapping and the boat and thinking about it.

Viney had to stop one already.

The sound of the waves was a constant reminder of their ever-growing thirst. Water, close and yet so far away at the same time.

The only good thing to come out of the thick fog was that it kept the unrelenting sun off their heads, but that was about the only good thing to be had here.

She would take her wins where she could get them at this point. 

She wished she could see the stars.

She glanced down at Otabin. 

He was asleep, paws and face twitching and Amity idly wondered what he dreamed about, it had to be better than some of hers, especially as of late. 

Viney was curled up at her side, snoring quietly and Amity smirked at that. She knew just how loud Emira snored, it only made sense that the only way Viney could possibly sleep beside her was if she snored equally as loud. 

How did either of them get any rest? 

The boat was quiet and still as the men slept to the gentle sounds of the ocean lapping at the boat. It was peaceful out here if nothing else and they could sleep deeply knowing that they couldn’t be attacked on the open water. Camping in the woods made for light sleeping. 

Suddenly Otabin’s ears suddenly pricked upward and his scarlet eyes shot open, head jerking up as he stared off into space, nose twitching and ears swiveling around his head. 

Amity grunted as the wolf jumped up, scrabbling over her and Viney, who made a pained noise as he stepped on her in his rush to the side of the boat, looking at something off in the fog.

Amity frowned, sitting up as Viney grumbled something half-intelligent, curling up further into herself and burying her face under her cloak,

If she knew anything, it was to trust her companion's senses over even her own.

She stood, stretching her stiff muscles to stand, carefully stepping over her second to join Otabin at the ship's side. She stared out into the dark for several moments, hearing nothing but the quiet sounds of waves and sea birds, but still, she waited, straining to hear whatever he heard. Suddenly the white wolf tipped his head back and let out a long, low howl that made the entire ship jump up in surprise at the sound

“What is it?” Viney grumbled under her breath, blinking sleepily at the jarl’s back.

“I don’t…” whatever she was going to say was cut off by a much louder, deeper howl coming from the mists in answer.

“Uh… are there… sea wolves?” Viney asked her, blinking as she sat up.

“No…,”

Still, they waited, staring out into the dark, rolling fog, then she heard it.

It was quiet and distant at first, an echo, really.

But as it got closer the sounds became clearer; popping and cracking.

Amity’s brows furrowed as she listened to it grow closer. She’d heard the sound before, but couldn’t quite place it, but something familiar was tugging at her memory. 

Then, something moved in the fog; something large and dark. The sound was much louder now

Viney walked over, rubbing an eye with a fist as she stared out at the sea.

“What…?” she started only for her mouth to drop open as ice erupted across the water in front of them and the figure moving through the clouds became clearer. Otabin barked happily as Amity’s eyes went wide. 

With each step he took, ice erupted beneath the god of darkness’s paws as he moved closer to the boat, red eyes fixed on Amity from behind the wolf skull.

“King…,” Amity mumbled.

Of all the gods she may have thought would appear, the god of winter and darkness would have been her last guess. King had never particularly cared for her and he'd been very upfront showing it. He had never made it any secret that he, like Camila, blamed her for the months that Luz had disappeared.

Of all Luz's siblings, he was also the one she knew the least. He never stayed long on the very brief occasions that he did appear, and hardly talked to her unless he had to.

The great Wolf huffed as she stared at him.

“Are you going to gawk all night, mortal or are you going to follow me?” he barked at her gruffly. That brought Amity right out of her stupor.

“Follow you…?” she repeated. The black wolf only rolled his eyes and made an annoyed sound in his throat.

“To the island. You’ll never find your way out of this fog on your own and Luz would have a fit if I left you here to die,” he grunted. 

"I…" she started, before she could get so much as another word out the black wolf turned and started stocking off again back across the frozen waters.

"Wake up the other boats," she turned to Viney, who was still watching the retreating god's back with wide eyes and mouth hanging open. She'd never met King. He seemed to be the most reclusive of his siblings.

"Viney!" Amity called and the warrior jerked, turning back to look at her.

"Oh, yeah, yeah." She hurried down the ship, waking anyone who was still sleeping and they signed to the other ships waking the three and quickly made to set sail, following the ice path King left in his wake.

The lanterns hanging from the bows of the ship were quickly lit and they were off, rowing quickly through the dark black waters and thick fog.

Within a few minutes, they had caught up to the god of darkness as he loped along, ice erupting as quickly as his steps.

The men all stared, sometimes forgetting to row until Viney was shouting at them.

"You can gawk at him when we aren't about to die of thirst, row!" she snapped. 

Amity stood at the bow, watching as they cut through the water, keeping pace with the giant wolf.

It was mesmerizing, watching ice appear beneath his feet almost instantly before his foot could touch the water.

Dark, glowing, rust-colored eyes cut to her, looking at her from the corner of his eye.

Without human features, she had no idea what he was thinking, but she was certain that her confusion was more than apparent to him.

They followed him for a few hours, till the light of day was peaking through the fog, and then, as if it had never been at all, they were out of it.

She was vaguely aware of all the men in the boats cheering as they entered the light of day once more.

And in front of them, the Eastern Isle.

She turned to see the god of darkness looking back at her from atop The water thirty yards away, his intense red gaze, unblinking.

Then he dipped his head in a sort of lupine nod and then turned and ran off across the water before he disappeared in a smudge of black that seemed to dissipate from the air.

Once the god of darkness had left them they wasted no time going ashore and setting up camp, everyone quickly breaking off in search of water, which luckily they found in the form of a nearby river leading out to the sea.

You would have thought they had found a hoard of gold the way they went on, dunking their whole faces into the freshwater and drinking until they couldn't, Amity too was quick to say to her thirst, as well as Otabin.

Several bands grouped together and went off in search of food as the rest of them finished prepping camp.

They would eat and sleep and come the next sunrise, they would be off to war.


	29. Chapter 29

Amity sat alone inside her tent, ax laid out in front of her. The sigil engraved upon its face gave off a bright glow to light the pre-dawn gloom inside. She sat crushing charcoal and water in a bowl, mashing it into a paste with a stone she'd found until she was happy with its smoothness. 

She chucked the stone outside and drugged her fingers through the cold paste, and began the process of lining her eyes with it, making the gold of her irises pop brightly against the dark paint. She leaned over and used the thick goop and her reflection in the blade to draw the light sigil on her forehead.

She was the champion of light, and when she cut down the death god's own adherents, she wanted them to know it.

Know that light would banish the darkness they had tried to bring to all nine realms. For trying to snuff out the world's warmth, light, and joy, the right hand of the shepherd of the Summer sun would send them straight to that darkness they so craved.

When she was satisfied with her war paint she tossed the bowl outside as well and picked up her cloak. She ran her fingers over the soft violet material. Even after everything it had been through over the past eight months, it was still soft between her fingers. It had a few holes and tears in it now along the bottom and edges. She’d taken more than a tumble or two over the course of this whole thing, and more than an injury or two, but it was relatively unscathed. She allowed herself a few more moments to press it between the pads of her fingers. She had few things that brought her any modicum of comfort in recent days, but her cloak was one of them.

A promise from Luz to her, one that she would hold onto till it was wrenched from her cold dead fingers. 

She’d made a vow to never lie to her, and Amity planned to hold her to it. 

She slung the fabric over her shoulder and affixed it with the golden pin bearing the sigil of light. That had been a gift as well, from Azura, and while she was finally stepping out of her mentor’s shadow, she would always be with her in some ways. 

She could really have used her guidance on a day like today when so many things hung uncertainly in the air as they prepared for battle.

The clattering and shuffling of her men moving about in camp filtered in through the open flap of her tent. The sun hadn't even risen yet but the whole camp buzzed with the quiet sounds of preparation.

The air was thick with tension and they could all feel it hanging around them like a shroud.

With a final deep breath, she grabbed her ax and stood. She was as ready as she was ever going to be.

She walked out and Otabin, who'd been laying in the grass beneath a tree, hurriedly jumped up and trotted along behind her as they made their way to camp. She made a quick stop at the light alter just a few paces outside her tent. 

All she could do for a long moment was stare at it before she closed her eyes and let out a slow breath.

"I don't know whether or not you're okay… I have to believe what your siblings tell me, I have to believe that you're okay. If I don't, if this has all been for nothing I…," tears pricked at the corners of her eyes, but she was quick to brush them away. She didn’t have time for tears; not today. 

"It feels like forever since I last saw you… if you don't come back to me...I don't know what I will do… my hope that winning this war will bring you back to me is all I have to keep me going." she reached up and wrapped her fingers around her medallion. She soaked up as much of its warmth as it would give. As much as she rubbed her fingers over it, she feared she would eventually rub the sigil from its face. 

"Please…," she whispered, strained. "Please be okay, Luz."

She stepped back and with one last look turned and headed into camp where her warriors were waiting.

They nodded or called out solemn greetings to her as she passed before going back to their own preparations, sharpening weapons and painting their faces and bodies with the sigils of the gods and runes of protection, strength, and courage.

Viney was staring at her reflection in the metal of a round shield and she painted sharp red lines across her cheeks and chin. Her eyes flickered to the new reflection in the metal as Amity stopped behind her before turning back to her own face and painted the hollows of her eyes. 

“I’ve got a wager going with two warriors from Kransborg that I can kill more archers than they can,” she said distractedly and Amity snorted as the shorter warrior stood up straight and turned to face her. “I’m thinkin’ I can kill at least twelve.” she grinned and the jarl crossed her arms, looking down at her, amused. 

"Are we ready?"

"Nearly," the champion of strength said and she wiped her hands on her pants and picked up her shield, and affixed it to her back as she picked up her spear. “So, what’s the plan?” 

“We destroy everything.”

“That’s a plan I can get behind.” Viney grinned at that.

When everything was in place and the camp had been packed up and returned to the boats Amity climbed up on a large rock to stand over the crowd of assembled warriors from the Southern Isle.

"Now we take the fight to them!" she called and the men rumbled with agreement. "We take ax and torch to everything, they wanted a war, now we'll give them one!" she shouted and they roared back, banging weapons and shields loudly.

With the light of the rising sun, they marched away from the beach and down the path that led into the woods, not sure where it would lead them.

They trudged along the paths, tense and watchful as they moved, watching the treeline for any signs of movement, enemies hidden in among the trees, ready to ambush them, but there was none. 

They rounded a bend and came face to face with a village, but something was decidedly off and Amity held up a hand, silently stopping their advance as she stood there listening; it was quiet.

Much too quiet.

Every village Amity had ever visited in her life had always been alive with the sound of people or animals, but it was deathly silent, and the gates laid wide open in front of them. 

Goosebumps erupted across the back of her arms. Something wasn’t right and she could feel it in her bones, the air was much too still.

She pulled her ax from her back and behind her the sound of weapons being readied followed as she moved ahead

They trod carefully as they approached the gates, watching everything around them even more so for any signs of an oncoming attack or an ambush, but nothing happened as they moved through the gate.

She didn't get more than a few yards inside before she stopped, ax lowered as she looked around, wide-eyed. 

The sight in front of her was not one she had expected to see, at least not before they had even arrived.

Bodies lay everywhere, butchered and mutilated.

"Spread out and look for anything or anyone!" she called and they dispersed across the village in small groups. Viney and Otabin followed her as they moved through the eerily silent village, the sounds of her own men's footsteps and quiet voices were the only ones.

"By the gods, what happened here?" Viney mumbled to herself as they passed a butchered pile of bodies, scattered among them, even children, and it made Amity feel sick.

Whatever had happened here was not a battle; it was a slaughter.

They continued on until they've made a few passes through all the different areas, double-checking every building. And destroying what Hel altars and symbols they found

The village was full of nothing but corpses, and she meant nothing.

There were no animals, no food or supplies of any kind in any house or building within the village walls.

It doesn't take her long to notice something else either.

Firstly, that the blood that covers everything is dark, maroon, and flaking. It had been at least a day or two since this happened. Secondly, among the bodies, there are no warriors.

What few men lay among them are elderly, sickly-looking, or children. The rest were all just the women and children of the village.

It doesn’t take her long to piece it all together.

“They killed their own people,” she mumbled numbly.

“What?” Viney whipped to look at her. 

"There are no warriors here… they killed their own people, took everything of value, and retreated further inland." She looked at her second.

"Why would they...!?" 

"Deadweight… those who need food but don't fight, take it from those who do… before we got here they cut the dead weight and took the supplies." Amity's grip on her ax tightened into a stranglehold.

She had seen a lot of battles in her day, some far more brutal than others, but never had she seen an entire village mercilessly slaughtered this way; by their own warriors no less.

There was no glory to be found in the murdering of a child, and it made Amity feel sick to look at.

If nothing else, the sight before her made one thing apparent.

This would be a fight until no one was left standing.

If they would do this to their own people there was no way they would surrender to them. It would be a fight till the end of the South or the East.

“Where did they all go, another village?” Viney asked as they stopped. In the village square, the rest of the group gathered back, all with the same thing to report; the village was deserted.

"We keep moving forward, they're somewhere, they can run but they can't hide." She frowned as they left the village behind, torching it to the ground, that was the least they could do for the damned place. 

As they moved along Amity could see the traces recently left behind from their quarry. Tracks in the dirt, but they were at least a day or so old by the look of it.

Viney moved to walk at her side. 

“This is going to be a bloodbath if they’re concentrating their forces and supplies somewhere.” She looked up as she mumbled quietly.

“I know…, but if we leave them, they’ll only come back to the Southern Isle and if we don't make Belos weaker, Luz may never get better and Ragnarok will come. We don’t have a choice but to fight," she whispered back and the shorter warrior sighed, but nodded her head in agreement. 

“I’m just afraid that in a siege, we don’t have the men or the supplies to outlast them,” she admitted after a moment. 

“We don’t…,” was Amity’s grumbled reply. 

They moved along, following the trails. For the most part, the woods were quiet and still, at least, they were to her.

Otabin, who was on the trail ahead of her, sniffing the worn tracks in the dirt when he stopped suddenly, tail up and ears pricked forward. He stood perfectly still and Amity stopped, causing everyone else to bump into each other as they came to an abrupt stop behind her.

The wolf's ears pricked up, listening, so Amity did too. 

Then a deep thundering growl came out of his throat and his lips pulled back over his teeth.

As soon as he did the woods were a flurry of activity as a lone figure in Glandis colors bolted from the trees away from them.

"Otabin, herja!” She commanded and like a shot, the wolf took off, paws thundering across the dirt as he gave chase, Amity and the rest followed and the figure screamed as the wolf gained on them quickly before taking a bite out of his leg and the screaming intensified as Otabin ripped into his leg.

As soon as they'd caught up, two Southern warriors grabbed the thrashing man by the arms as she called off the war wolf.

"Otabin, heel!" Just like that the beast released him and retreated to her side.

They held him up as she approached. He looked up panting.

"Where are they?" she asked, glaring at him. She didn't need to explain, he knew exactly what she was talking about.

He spat in her face and Amity closed her eyes and wiped it away with the back of her arm.

"Have it your way then." 

She half-turned to look at Viney as the two men holding the Glandis warrior tightened their hold.

The champion of strength cracked her knuckles as she approached and slammed a fist straight into his gut. He heaved, but she didn't stop there as she began to beat him bloody.

Amity stood to the side, arms crossed as Viney worked to loosen his tongue.

When she stood back, knuckles bruised, and bloody he spit out a tooth and blood.

"Go rot, bitch!" He spat at them.

Amity narrowed her eyes and Viney turned to look at her questioningly.

"Otabin," the jarl called and the wolf stood and began to growl as his quivering lips pulled back over his fangs.

The warrior's face turned fearful at that.

"I don't know!"

A lie if she'd ever heard one.

"Herja!" she barked.

The wolf sprang forward latching onto one of his legs and he screamed as the beat shook and tore.

After a long minute, she called him off.

"Where. Are. They?" She asked coldly as he cried and wailed.

"I... I don't…"

"Otabin…"

"Joftun!" He yelled before she could command the beast to attack again. "They cleared the villages of supplies and are barricading themselves in the village of Joftun!" he quickly spilled his guts.

"Where is Joftun?" 

He looked like he wasn't going to say until he glanced at the wolf still waiting at her side.

"Straight to the north!"

"We head north!" She turned to her men, who roared and shouted. She turned back to Viney and jerked her head at the lone Glandis warrior. She nodded and drew her dagger.

A single cut later, they were headed northward.

~ ~

The village of Joftun was large, and even from up on the hill above it she could tell that it was crawling with death’s followers. Everywhere she looked, all she saw were the dark violets and blacks of the god's followers. They were easily outnumbered.

They'd barricaded themselves inside the village walls and the tops were manned by archers, waiting.

She and Viney crouched in the forest outside the village, watching.

"They're ready for us, we'll never be able to surprise them," The other champion grumbled to her.

"No… we're just going to have to storm the gates," Amity agreed and Viney scowled; It was their only option.

They wouldn’t be able to outwait them, and there was no possible way for them to sneak close. There was nothing but open fields all around its walls. 

"I was afraid you were going to say that," Viney grunted.

"If you have a better plan I'm all ears."

"No, you're right. The time for tactics is done. This is going to be a battle of brute force."

Amity nodded. It was the only pass open to them.

"We can at least buy ourselves some time and scramble them some with fire."

"You're just itching to set something ablaze." She turned to her companion and smirked. Amity just returned the grin. "Let's do it."

They quickly made their way back to camp and prepared. The air was thick with the tension of pre-battle.

Amity sat on a log, running her hand through Otabin's fur

"I got you a shield for our advance. Can't have you stuck full of arrows before the battle even really starts." Viney handed her a worn roundshield. 

"Thanks," she mumbled distractedly. Viney plopped onto the log beside her.

“They're just about ready…,” Viney told her and she nodded. “This doesn’t feel like your normal before battle seriousness… something on your mind?” she asked and Amity sighed.

“I just… I wonder if this will really stop it all. Where is Luz now, is she getting better?” she asked but didn’t look up from petting Otabin, though she did reach up to wrap a hand around her medallion.

“Boscha said she was getting better when we saw her… and Hooty did too.” 

“I know, I just… I want to see her for myself… know she’s okay, I…!” Her mouth snapped closed and her grip on the metal tightened. 

Viney clapped a hand on her shoulder and gave a comforting squeeze.

"You miss her, I know. It's hard to have faith after this long with no solid proof that what we've been doing has made any difference, but we have to, that's what faith is. We have to believe in the gods, in Luz; with or without proof."

Amity sighed and loosened her stranglehold on the metal before her hand dropped into her lap.

“I know…” 

“Well, let’s get out there and win another battle. For Baldur!” She grinned as she jumped up and held up a fist. Amity couldn’t help but snort at that.

“You know she hates that…” she grinned and Viney only laughed.

"When she shows up she can tell me what not to call her," The warrior only chuckled and held a hand out to Amity.

The jarl smirked and took it, letting the shorter woman pull her to stand.

"Right… well, we're off then." She nodded.

"To war!" The green-eyed warrior threw up a fist.

“Maybe you should’ve been one of Hooty’s champions,” Amity smirked, crossing her arms and Viney just shrugged.

“The man’s got style, what can I say.” 

“Come one,” Amity nudged her as she passed. 

They walked quickly back to the main camp and rallied the warriors waiting for them. They looked at Amity expectantly.

Viney nudged her and the jarl took a breath as she faced them.

"Today we show our enemies from the East the great mistake they made when they came to our island," she said. A rumble of agreement went through the crowd. "They came and stole our homes and held our families captive!" Her voice grew, as did the rumble of voices in front of her into low shouts. "Now with the gods at our sides, we'll make them regret ever stepping foot on our shores!" The rumble grew into shouts of agreement and the clattering of weapons on shields.

"Today we end this war!" She shouted and they roared back. "To the gates!" She screamed, ax raised overhead, and they bellowed back in kind, and then the ground shuddered and shook beneath their pounding footsteps as they ran from the woods toward the village gates.

It took only a few seconds after they appeared yelling and shouting to echo back from the village. Even from here, she could already see The archers about to lose their arrows.

"Shields!" 

Arrows started raining down on them, thunking into their shields, and to her left Viney was calling out for return fire.

Flaming arrows shoot over their heads and imbed themselves into the walls and fly straight over them into the village, a few stick right into an archer or two and they screamed as they were set ablaze, running and screaming or falling straight over the walls.

They slammed into the gates and they shuddered as they started slamming against them in a wave.

They shook and rattled but did not give.

Amity cursed under her breath as they all swelled around her, pushing at the gates as they held their shields overhead to block out the arrows flying through the air above their heads.

She could hear only yelling voices on the other side of the gate, waiting for them. The gate was only the first block in their road to victory, and so far it was doing a fantastic job of waylaying them.

"Come on!" she grunted and they slammed their shoulders and shields into the doors.

If they didn't get through them soon they were going to all get picked off with arrows!

She scowled as they rammed it again and it quaked under the brute force.

There were flames licking at her shield and it was getting hot against her skin as flaming arrows from above embedded themselves into it.

The arrows stopped and she could tell that another volley would soon be incoming, and at least four men had already fallen, arrows sticking out of their shoulders, another round would further weaken their advance.

"Push!" She shouted over the din as they surged forward again, but still, it held.

"Damnit!" She cursed glancing out from under her shield to see another reign of arrows about to come down.

Thunder boomed across the sky and before they could loose them a wave of lightning struck the top of the walls in a blinding flash and Glandis archers tumbled over the wall, falling onto them, dead.

She blinked the spots out of her eyes and then another sound reached her ears over the crackle of lightning in the air.

"Make way!" a familiar voice called over the crowd.

She turned just in time to see two familiar faces.

"Hooty, Gus!" She shouted as the god of war came barreling toward them with the god of mischief hanging from his shoulders. "Move!" she shouted.

They drove out of the way just in time for the two deities to go barreling through the gates, ripping them from the walls and sending them flying into the village.

The warriors waiting from them on the other side scattered as the giant wooden doors flung inside.

Amity watched with her mouth hanging open.

"Don't just stand there, jarl. The fight is only just starting." 

She turned to look over her shoulder at the god of storms standing there, hammer in hand.

"Boscha...!" she started.

"No time to talk, we have a fight to win!" The god of storms shouted as she ran past her into the village, lightning crackled all along her form.

She quickly shook herself from her stupor along with the rest of her men and barreled inside behind the gods, already causing mayhem and chaos everywhere.

There were Glandis and black-cloaked warriors everywhere, and those who weren't clashing with the gods, to miserable ends, came rushing toward them, weapons raised.

With a vicious battle cry of her own, Amity threw herself into the fray, dodging sword and ax’s to turn and deliver swift strikes, cleaving limbs from bodies in crimson sprays of blood.

Otabin latched onto another and mauled him to death. Everywhere around them is a cacophony of screaming and battle cries.

The gods had left them a path, and they made their way further into the village with every enemy they cut down.

She ripped her ax free from the neck of another Glandis warrior and turned just in time to find one barreling straight at her, but before she could even lift her ax, a giant, black-furred body, rushed in and snapped his giant maw full of razor-sharp, white fangs around him, nearly chopping him half.

With a swift jerk of his head, King threw the dead warrior aside, bright, glowing, rust-colored eyes landed on Amity for only a moment before he dashed back into the fray, jaws snapping off limbs with each gnash of his jaws. 

Amity didn’t stand there long before she ran deeper into the village.

It was all a blur of blood and metal on metal, and the next thing she knew, everything was on fire.

The buildings were burning and mead was being spilled into the streets and lit ablaze, creating a haze of smoke and fire, but through it she can see two familiar tall heads, that she is close enough to hear.

another group of warriors was running from deeper into the village at them.

"Hooty!" Boscha called to her brother, who grinned and nodded as his sister grabbed him, and hurled the god of War into the group.

"Ha Ha!" She could hear his laughter as he slammed into the ground scattering them, but some didn't scatter fast enough before he grabbed them by the throat or tunic and flung them through the walls of the nearest buildings with loud crashes, making the fire weakened structures come crashing down around them.

Gus had found his brother, and the two dashed around the battlefield, Gus slamming his staff into heads from the god of darkness’ back. King roared and snapped his Jaws around anything and everything within his reach bearing a sigil of Hel or wearing the Glandis colors. 

Amity ducked under another swipe of a black-cloaked warrior's sword and buried the head of her ax into his gut before viciously ripping it free and turning to deliver a vicious head butt to the one coming up behind her.

He jerked back, eyes squeezed shut and never seeing Otabin as he jumped up, clamping his jaw around his throat.

When he stopped struggling the wolf returned to her side.

"Otabin, herja!" She ordered and the beast dashed off into the fighting on his own, joining Viney, as she yanked the spear out of the chest of an archer.

"Seven!" She shouted out before dashing back into the nearest fight with the white wolf at her side.

Amity ran through the square as another band came running at her through a large puddle of mead. She reached out and pried a chunk of burning wood from the nearest burning building and tossed it in their direction. The liquid went up in a burst of flame, catching their cloaks ablaze. They screamed, running or dropping to the ground trying to put out the fire.

She turned in time to see Boscha slam her hammer into yet another foe, and sent them careening across the battlefield. 

Another from behind slashed at her, cutting into the god's arm. She turned, a furious scowl pulling at her face and she raised her hammer overhead before it slammed into his skull. The crunching sound could be heard over the crackle and pop of the fire blazing all around them.

"What are you all doing here?!" Amity yelled over the screams and roaring sounds of battle.

"That's the stupidest fucking question I've ever heard!" The god of storms yelled back, turning to deliver another swift strike to an approaching warrior, who flew at least twenty yards into the nearest wall of flames. "We came to help!" 

"What about…," she started to ask but had to jump out of the way of another oncoming strike. She rammed her ax into his face and when she turned around again the god of storms was gone, somewhere in the middle of it all by the look of the lightning that cracked through the air.  
She cursed under her breath, but she knew the time to ask about Luz wasn't now. They had a war to win!

She ran through the bloody, burning village toward the mead hall. She knew what she needed to do.

Find the Jarl. Clan Glandis' leader, and put them down.

She ran past a building just as a small group led by a black-cloaked warrior came running around the corner. 

She barely raised her ax in time to block the swift, downward stroke of a sword.

She jumped back, preparing for a hell of a fight when thundering steps behind her told her to move.

She jumped to the side, just as the god of war came barreling through, scattering them like a pile of dead leaves.

He grabbed two by the arms and slammed them together with a sickening crunch. Another came running at the gods back. He turned just as Amity's ax swung through the air, severing his head from his neck, sending it flying as his body slumped to the ground.

The god grinned at her before his eyes alighted upon more Glandis on the field and took off with more maniacal laughter. More screaming from his direction soon followed. 

She turned and ran back toward the mead hall across the square.

Splitting the skulls of the few warriors stupid enough to try and stop her.

She'd yet to see anyone resembling the jarl, and she knew she would know them when she saw them.

The mead hall is unguarded, even as they pushed deeper into the village, slowly, but surely overtaking it with the help of the divine siblings helping thin their enemies ranks at lightning pace.

Thunder rumbled overhead as she smashed through the mead hall doors.

It was dark inside, but the light of the fires crackling outside stretched inside the doors, a dim red and orange glow across the floor, but not far enough past the door to light the deep darkness within.

She stepped further into the room, ax clutched in her hands, and stopped. 

She could see something across the room.

A single glowing eye. Her grip tightened. Belos' champion. One she's sure won't be like the ones she's been killing for the past year.

"You have been a thorn in my patron's side, jarl," A woman's voice called across the room and the figure stepped forward, out of the deep gloom in the back of the hall.

She was short, hair pulled back in a short ponytail, but her dark bangs covered her right eye entirely, leaving the warrior staring back into a single, glowing eye. A cloak of black, held with a pin, engraved with the death god's sigil hung from her shoulders.

"I'm going to be an ax in his back soon enough," Amity growled, holding up her weapon. A dim yellow glow reflected off its blade, proof that her own eyes were aglow with her champions' powers.

"You're more delusional than I thought if you think you could ever hold a candle to the god of death!" she spat, brandishing a sword in both hands."The sooner you accept light is dead then we can all move forward to my lord's ascension to Asgard.

"I'd rather cut off your head," the Boneshaven jarl snarled, dashing forward and swinging her ax with all her might. 

The sword shot up and made a loud screech as its blade pushed back against the metal shaft of her ax. They both pushed back against the other in a deadlock as they growled and snarled at each other. Amity shoved her ever backward in the power struggle. 

"You'll drown in the darkness of Niflheim!" The death champion bit out, jumping back. Amity stumbled forward, farther into the room.

She fell to the floor, and the wood bit into her arms as she used them to cushion the fall. She flipped over quickly and brought up her ax to block a strike that wasn't there.

Her confusion was short-lived as she jumped up to see the other jarl running for the door. she barely made it two steps in the direction of the doors before they slammed shut, and the room was cast in thick, black, darkness.

The pitch blackness surrounded her, a heavy shroud over her skin. She swallowed thickly as she tried to push it away and listen to the footsteps moving through the darkness.

They walked around her in slow, sure, circles. The slow, sure steps of someone who knew, knew her fear.

She ran her tongue over suddenly dry lips, hand tightening around the grip of her ax. 

“What’s the matter, jarl?" The voice echoed around her as her eyes darted through the inky blackness all around her. "Can't handle the dark?" The voice taunted knowingly before the sounds grew nearer and Amity stepped back as a rush of air passed her face and something sharp bit into her right brow, narrowly missing her eye.

She staggered back, hissing as she felt blood begin to drip down her face, but she did not reach up to wipe it away, her hands locked around the shaft of her weapon.

Amity swallowed thickly, her heartbeat pounded in her ears.

Of course, if he'd been spying on her all the time he had been then he would know about that. Her fear of the dark.

Her limbs shook against her will as the steps continued to pace around her, slow and even, unhurried; content to watch her fall apart.

Darkness pressed in from every side, the all-encompassing blackness was suffocating, choking her.

She'd come so far, and this was what would stop her; the dark. 

Of course it would.

Darkness was one thing she was intimately familiar with, the thing that had colored her whole life in its shroud; blotted out all things.

Till light had chased it away.

Luz's light, so bright and hot, it burned away the darkness from every dim corner of her life, made her feel safe and warm with it's incandescent glow.

No.

No, she refused to let it blot out her warmth again, cast her back into its shadow, not when she'd come so far!

She clutched her ax, she was so close to having her love back.

Her light.

The sigil on her ax blazed to life, brighter than it ever had, and the room was aglow, banishing the dark.

Her eyes landed on the surprised jarl's face a few paces away.

With a roar, she lunged forward, swinging the glowing weapon with all her might.

The sword raised to block it but the iron blade snapped with a shattering sound as the ax found its home buried in the other warrior's chest.

The sword hilt clattered to the floor as she sputtered, blood bubbling past her lips.

"I. Am. The champion of light," Amity hissed through clenched teeth before ripping the blade free and splattering blood across her tunic and the floor as the jarl collapsed in a heap at her feet

Amity let out a ragged breath as blood began to pool at her feet.

She'd done it. 

The god of death's champion laid dead at her feet on the mead hall floor, her life's blood staining the wood in deep crimson pools.

"My, that was unexpected."

She jumped, turning toward the voice.

Just beyond the edge of her ax's light, a pair of icy blue eyes glowed in the darkness.

Amity snarled, holding up her blood-soaked weapon.

"This is over!" she snapped as the god of death stepped closer till his bright white and gold cloak shined in the light cast from her sigil.

"Over?" He cocked his head. "Delusional, girl," his voice dripped with venom. "Was I not clear before? My father and his siblings did not come here to help you, they came only for themselves," he scoffed. "Light is dead."

"You're a liar!" Amity roared. 

"Oh? Then where is she?" His voice took on a dark, hollow sound.

The words struck a painful chord deep within Amity, who snarled and dashed forward.

The god sunk into the ground as Amity's ax flew through the place he had once been, embedding itself into the wood of the wall.

His voice echoed at her from all around.

"Light is dead," it bounced off the walls in a hollow, tinny sound. "Yet, no one has the heart to tell you…," The voice faded 

She stood alone in the hall, fingers tight around the hilt of her ax, she could no longer feel his presence in the room, he was gone.

She ripped the blade free and relaxed, lowering her arms as she stood alone in the mead hall, blood dripping down her face from the cut over her brow. She wiped at it with a grunt. She refused to believe that!

No, he was lying to her again. The god of death had proven himself to be quick to lie, to try and make her doubt.

She chewed her bottom lip between her teeth.

She worried, now that she thought about it, she had not felt her brand heat up since they had set foot on the Eastern Isle. Before, it had been heating up almost every night for weeks. She reached up and pressed a hand over the brand beneath her tunic. The only warmth she could feel was the familiar one of her own skin, not the kind that indicated she was in Luz’s thoughts. 

A cold hand of dread gripped her heart.

What was happening?

No answers were forthcoming as Viney and Otabin as well as a few other warriors burst into the hall.

"Amity!" Her second rushed to her side with her companion, who whimpered and whined until she reached down to scratch his head. "Are you alright?" She asked before spotting the dead warrior in the middle of the hall.

"I'm fine." She wiped at the blood that continued to drip down her face. "What's happening?" 

"It's over, we routed them with the gods' help!" Viney grinned victoriously. 

Amity felt herself relax somewhat at the news.

The war was finally over and they had won, beaten back death.

"Where are they? I need to talk to them." Amity hung her ax at her side.

Viney frowned, eyes flickering away from hers.

"Uh…" she fiddled with her spear as Amity looked at her. "They left," she finally said.

"What?!" Amity turned fully to face her. Otabin's ears laid flat against his skull at her shout.

"When the battle ended, Boscha said they had to hurry back to Asgard… and they left…" she frowned at Amity.

“But I…!" Amity's fists clenched at her sides. 

Why would they leave? Boscha at least, she was sure, knew that she needed to know about Luz!

"They didn't say anything?" she asked Viney, who only shook her head, frowning. 

The hand tightened.

~

The battle had ended in complete domination of the Eastern Isle by the allies of the south and their Aesir allies'.

The war was over, but there were still things to do before she could rest, and oh, how she wanted to rest, for more than two days at a time when a battle wasn’t hanging over her head, a distant promise that always came true. 

The night it all ended, Amity dreamed, but not one like all those she'd had before.

It took place somewhere familiar. A dark, dingy, stone room, lit by flickering lights, like flames, but they glowed white in the darkness.

The gods, all gathered within, and Belos, standing in front of his throne as they stood before him. 

Unlike her other dreams, it was incoherent. Flashes of bright light and blinding lightning flashed. Messy chunks of a scene she couldn't quite put together.

Gus, the red eyes of his staff glowing in the gloom, King's lips pulled back over a maw of razor teeth. Hooty's face, set in a deep scowl, Boscha beside him, hammer crackling with lightning.

And at the center of it all, Luz, looking angrier than Amity could ever remember seeing her. Her mother on one side and an older man wearing a wolf hide over his head she had never seen before. His eyes glowed and the stone room shook violently.

The god of light was mouthing something, but the words were fuzzy and quiet.

Then a flurry of movement, jumbled to her. A flash silver in the dark and then blood, bright and red dripping from the light god's face.

Amity shot up in her tent, panting and cold sweat dripping down her forehead.

Otabin looked up at her and whined as she pressed a hand over her face.

What did it all mean?

~ ~

It took two more months for Amity to make the journey home. 

There was much to do, divvying up the spoils of war from the now obliterated Clan Glandis, and waiting for wounds to heal before they could move out, and a host of other little things that needed her attention and mediation before they could finally set sail for their homeland.

Unlike their first voyage, this one went without a hitch, no unnatural fog, or being lost at sea for several extra days. It was smooth sailing over clear blue water under the bright spring sky. The sunlight was warm on her skin, and yet, worry wormed its way through her heart as they cut through the water.

Then, she was waylaid in every village along the coast as they traveled. Their jarls always insisted on throwing a feast or party in celebration and Amity had no choice but to stay an extra day or two before setting off again. It was all very nice of them, heralding her as some hero and cheering on the god of light and the other gods for leading them to victory as they ate and drank until they passed out. 

It was nice.

Eating, drinking, and resting, but she was still worried. Where had the god of death gone, what was he going to do now, and most importantly, where was Luz? 

They headed westward, the process repeated in every village and every day over those two months, she worried, it ate her up inside. Every day grew brighter and warmer than the one that came before it, but her brand remained cool and she heard not a word from any of the gods’, Luz least of all. Until finally, it was only Amity and the warriors that had left Boneshaven with her nearly a year ago, though unfortunately, not all of them. 

No one had walked away from the war unscathed, but most of them did at least, walk away with their lives. Amity had a few more scars than when she had left, as did Viney, as well as missing a couple of toes she lost during the long, harsh winter to frostbite, but they had come off relatively unscathed in comparison to some with them, and especially those who were not. 

She’d never been so happy to see the gates of Boneshaven as she was the day before the summer solstice.

It looked relatively unchanged from the day they had left. Its gates had a few more gouges and cuts in them, but for the most part, everything was the same. With only a few words spoken between them, the warriors of Boneshaven went their separate ways, her men eager to see their own families again after so long. 

Amity walked slowly through the village with Viney at her side and Otabin trailing along behind them.

It was sheer luck that everyone they were looking for was standing outside Viney and Emira's home when they walked up. What a relief it was, to see them all standing there, healthy and alive.

The twins were standing there talking to Willow when the herbalist happened to glance up and her eyes widened, causing the twins to turn and see what she was looking at. 

"AMITY, VINEY!" The three shouted and bolted toward them.

Amity laughed as her brother wrapped her up in a tight hug, quickly followed by her sister. They hugged and squeezed her tightly, though Emira disentangled herself quicker than Edric to throw her arms around the shorter warrior, who picked her up and spun her around gleefully before sitting her back down. 

"Eh, why not," Edric grinned, throwing his arms around Viney as well, making the shorter woman chuckle and his twin roll her eyes as the two squeezed the champion of strength between them. She picked them both up and squeezed them in her arms, making the twins laugh. Her own champion abilities from the god of strength were apparent.

Amity shook her head at the two of them before she turned her gaze back to the one person she had been dreading to face for nearly a year now.

Before she could even open her mouth, Willow was squeezing her tight in her grip. Amity sucked in a sharp breath as the herbalist squeezed her tightly, chin on her shoulder.

“I’m so glad you’re back," the dark-haired woman mumbled into the warrior’s shoulder. Amity blinked, arms stuck out on either side of the woman as she hugged her.

Her eyes burned, tears threatening to slip effortlessly from the corners of her eyes, but she blinked rapidly, banishing them away, and wrapped her arms tightly around her back, squeezing maybe, much too hard.

“I’m sorry,” she mumbled into her friend's dark hair. “I’m sorry for everything I said,” she said hoarsely, voice strained. 

Willow made a quiet sound in the back of her throat and untangled her arms around Amity to grip her shoulders and pushed her back to look at her.

“Amity, I was never mad, I was just worried. I hated watching you fall apart and destroy yourself after losing Luz… It was like losing Azura all over again,” she mumbled and Amity nodded, looking solemnly down at the ground, but Willow squeezed her shoulders, making her look back up. "I'm just glad you're back in one piece." She smiled.

"I'm glad to be back." She smiled and then her siblings had their arms slung around her neck again. 

“We sure did miss you,” Edric squeezed and Amity smiled before turning back to Willow.

"Willow… have you seen Boscha?" she finally asked and the herbalist frowned.

"I saw her a few days ago, but then she had to return to Asgard, she couldn't stay more than a few minutes, and that was the first time I'd seen her in a while myself." The herbalist frowned. 

“She didn’t happen to say anything about… Luz, did she?” 

Willow shook her head. 

"No, she seemed in a hurry, why?"

Amity frowned, glancing at the ground.

"The fighting finished two months ago... Boscha and her and Luz's brothers all showed up to help us take the town of Joftun, but then… they left without a word and I haven't seen or heard from any of them since…," she trailed off looking glum.

"Hey, it's gonna be okay, I'm sure. It's probably why Boscha had to run off so quickly," she tried to assure her.

"Maybe… I just…" her voice grew thick in her throat and the words refused to come out, but Willow knew. She didn't have to say it, as did Viney and her siblings.

"We know, it's okay." The herbalist reached out and squeezed her arm gently. "Just be patient, Amity, I'm sure she'll come back soon." 

"Yeah, for now, we should just be glad that we made it back," Viney piped up

"We should celebrate!" Edric grinned.

"Yeah!" Emira was quick to agree.

"Maybe just a couple drinks…" Willow smiled at her, and as tired as she was, and as much as she wanted to just lay down and sleep for the rest of her life, she nodded and let them pull her along toward the mead hall.

She and Viney spent the rest of the day regaling the three with their tales from the battlefields of the last year. 

Viney spared no details of her, nor Amity's battles.

"That's vile!" the green-haired woman shouted, giving her cackling lover a shove as she finished the telling of her spearing two men on her spear at once.

"It was grand! I won the wager by killing fourteen archers!" the champion of strength proclaimed.

"Do you think we can get Lord Gus to make fog like that next time he comes?" Edric turned to his sister, who grinned.

"No," Amity snapped, making the two giggle to each other. 

They talked and laughed for hours, Otabin sitting at Amity’s feet, dozing as they did.

"I'm going to have to go around and talk to all the villagers tomorrow," Amity sighed.

“Don’t worry about it right now. I’ll get you all caught up in the morning, just relax. You look exhausted.” Willow waved a hand as she lifted her flagon once more to her lips.

“I am,” she mumbled, running a hand through her hair, thinking about how it was even now as much auburn as it was green. “I think I’m gonna go get some sleep.” She stood from the table.

Her sister was quick to jump up and wrap her in another tight hug first.

“We’ll talk later,” she promised and Amity nodded, giving her a brief squeeze before she let go to set herself back at Viney’s side.

Edric and Willow called their own goodnight’s as she walked out of the hall, Otabin faithfully trailing along behind her.

The village was quiet as dark fell and she looked out over it as she walked. She was glad they had been alright without her.

It made a warm contentment settle over her as she moved through the dimness of twilight toward her house. 

Everything was cast in the long pink and orange rays of the setting sun, and the occasional flicker of a firefly lit the gloom with tiny spots of light as the village children ran around laughing and chasing them. It made her think of a very similar night. It felt like that was an eternity ago now.

Standing there with her arms wrapped around Luz, watching the village children chase the fireflies she'd summoned one winter, back when they had finally been on the cusp of having mended their relationship.

She'd been so warm. Amity could still feel it. Like a spectral touch on her heart.

That warm contentment remained, but a cool melancholy was beginning to seep in among it, like the remaining Winter chill as it gave way to Summer. She bit her lip as it pulled at her heartstrings, though her eyes remained dry.

She forced herself to turn away and keep moving toward her house as a low pain deep in her chest made itself known. 

Not sharp, or stabbing, like it once had been, but more akin to an old wound. One that had long healed, but a small constant ache would always remain.

That was how she felt.

She didn't know if Luz would ever return to her if what the god of death had said was true or not; it didn't matter.

The result was all the same.

Luz was not by her side.

That was all she needed to know. Her warmth and joy remained missing, and maybe it would never return, maybe she would keep this ache with her for all the rest of her days.

For days more yet though, she would have it, because she'd made a promise to Luz. To live out her mortal life for all it was worth.

It felt like it was decidedly worth less now. How could it not when she had tasted how beautiful and wonderful it could be, only to have it all stripped from her?

No matter what it was worth though, she'd made a promise to her patron, and even if she had almost broken it in fits of grief and rage, she would do whatever it took to keep it; for Luz.

The house on the hill was dark and quiet, but Amity needed no light.

The last year had proven that to her.

She'd spend the last year in the dark, a dark so much more terrifying and gut-wrenching than the paltry dimness that filled her house now. It was hard to consider how paralyzed it had once made her; nothing lurking within could ever compare to the dark she had known.

Otabin walked over to the pile of straw still sitting in the corner and curled himself up into a ball.

She walked over and finally hung her ax back on its place on the wall to rest before unclipping her cloak and hanging it up as well.

She was weary, and didn't bother with the fire pit or even with taking off her boots as she walked past it to her bed and slumped down on it without a sound as she looked around. Nothing had changed, it was as if time had stood still all the while she was gone; a thin layer of dust that covered everything being the only proof that she had ever left.

Everything was exactly how she had left it, the painting on the wall, the bits and bobbles on the shelf, and Luz's clothes still sitting in a pile on the floor.

It felt… cruel. Like maybe when she returned, it would have been wiped away, like a dream, and take her pain with it; but everything remained exactly how it had been.

No Luz and all.

She laid back on the bed and let out a long, weary sigh as her body went limp and sudden exhaustion sapped all her strength.

She let her eyes close and then knew nothing.

The next time she woke up, it was pitch black in the house still. She blinked against it, but even in the inky blackness, she could see the figure that was sitting silently on the side of her bed.

Her whole body froze, but instinct kicked in and she kicked them away.

They fell to the ground with a startled yelp and Amity jumped up, still trying to shake off the sleep when she heard it; low chuckling. 

She stopped dead as the chuckling subsided and there was a quiet shuffling in the dark.

"Always my fierce champion," a low, affectionate voice broke the quiet.

Amity's heart stopped and then a bright flash of light momentarily blinded her.

She blinked against it and then the house was alive with several glowing orbs of light and her breath hitched in her lungs.

Standing only a few inches in front of her, was Luz.

She stood there in silence for a long moment, trying to coerce her lips into moving.

"I'm dreaming again…," she finally mumbled, frowning at the god, who only smiled at her.

"Not this time, Amity," was the low answer. "I'm here…," she said, taking a step closer. 

"You can't be…," Amity's voice was tight. Her mind played such cruel tricks on her, but this was the cruelest yet as she continued to stare up at the god wearing an eyepatch over her left eye, a scar stretched from the top and bottoms of it as she smiled sadly down at her.

"You look tired, my light," she said quietly as she reached out to cup Amity's cheek in her hand.

Amity reached up and covered Luz's hand with hers, and could feel that familiar warmth spread across the skin of her cheek.

That had never happened in her dreams. She’d seen Luz so many times in her dreams, but never had she been able to feel her warmth like this.

Emotions were rising in her chest like the tide, and her grip on the hand grew tighter and tighter as her eyes widened, tears pricked at the edges.

"Luz… you're… you're really here..." Her vision was growing blurry as tears filled her eyes.

“I’m here,” she confirmed gently.

Everything was welling up inside so quickly and violently and it burst before she could even comprehend it.

“Luz!” she choked on the sob bursting from her throat. She threw herself into the god’s open arms and buried her face in her chest as she dug her fingers into the back of her cloak and started to sob into the white material of her tunic. 

The fingers of one of Luz’s hands carded softly through her hair while the other clutched around her waist tightly and she mumbled soft, reassuring words into the warrior’s ears.

“It’s alright, my light. I’m here,” she mumbled, lips brushing her ear as she held her as close as was physically possible.

Everywhere the god touched, warmth spread through her like the kiss of stray sunbeams in the dead of winter, chasing away the cold that had settled over her. 

The tiny, flickering flame in her heart grew, kindled by the feel of Luz pressed in so close, her warm skin an ever-present reminder that she was here, she was here in Amity’s arms, even as she sobbed, ugly and loud into her lover’s chest, her hands fisted in a white-knuckled grip into her clothes. 

With careful movements, the bringer of joy scooped the weeping warrior into her arms and settled them both back into the bed, Luz’s back pressed against the wall as Amity curled up into a ball in her lap, her arms warped around her neck in a stranglehold, weeping openly into her shoulder as Luz only continued to whisper soft words into her hair through the night.

The pale rays of early dawn light had begun to creep in from the window and across the floor when Amity’s tears finally slowed to a dribble of wet tracks down her cheeks.

She never loosened her hold on Luz as she leaned back to look at her. The morning light was now shining up the wall and onto the god's face. Her one uncovered, dark brown eye stared back at Amity, alight in the warm rays, it shined like polished bronze. She drew back a hand to press to the god's cheek, she could feel the warmth of her skin beneath her palm and Luz leaned into it, enjoying the touch.

“I missed you so much,” Amity’s voice came out low and raspy, raw. 

“I missed you too,” was the mumbled reply as she reached up to press her hand over Amity’s as she turned to press her lips to the jarl’s rough and calloused palm, holding her hand in place as her mouth moved to her wrist, she could feel the warrior's pulse, strong and steady beneath her lips; comforting to them both. 

Amity choked back a final strangled cry.

“I’m just so glad you're okay…” 

“Thanks to you.” Luz intertwined her fingers with hers and Amity frowned, eyes flickering away as old guilt bubbled up to the surface. Her pinched features in turn made Luz frown.

“What, what's wrong?" She leaned her head to catch Amity’s gaze once more. The warrior squeezed her eyes shut, she couldn’t bear to look at her, even as her hand wrapped in Luz’s squeezed tighter.

“It was my fault, you almost died because of me,” she breathed, eyes squeeze tight so as not to have to look at her even though that's the only thing she wanted to do.

Luz's hand on her cheek made her turn back to face her.

"Amity… look at me," she commanded, and Amity could never deny her anything. Her eyes slip back open.

"What happened was no one's fault, least of all yours. The only one to blame is Belos," she said sternly and Amity sniffled.

"If I hadn't…," she started, only for the god of light to cut her off.

"If you hadn't been destroying the mistletoe, he might never have known, yes…," she said and Amity flinched, but Luz wasn't done. "If Belos wasn't so concerned with power this wouldn't have happened… If your parents hadn't been so horrible, you'd never have become an adherent of light, and we never would have met…," she went on and Amity blinked at her, confused. "There are so many what-ifs and maybes, my light, but they don't matter, because we're here now, and what's done is done. I'm here, alive, with you; that's all I want. I don't care about anything else." Luz ran her thumb over her cheek gently. 

They sat there in the quiet for a while, just enjoying each other's presence after so long, Amity stared at her face, trying to soak up as much as possible.

It was like being stranded in the ocean without water all over again, and now that she’d found water she couldn't get enough. 

It was only now that she was coherent enough to take true notice of Luz’s face and the fact that one of those mesmerizing brown iris’ was gone. 

She reached up gently and laid her hand against the right side of the god’s face.

“What happened to your eye?” she frowned.

“Ah… it’s why it took me so long to get back to you. We took care of Belos, he’s now sealed in Niflheim until the day Ragnarok really comes, but he got a good shot on me with a dagger, got my whole eye…” she gave a little shrug. “Mami wouldn’t let me leave till it was healed. 

“He had a whole dagger made out of mistletoe?” Amity frowned and Luz chuckled.

“No, just a regular old dagger…” 

“But you invulnerability…,” she started.

“Is gone.” Luz smiled and Amity’s eyes widened.

“What?!” Amity yelped.

“Mhmm” Luz nodded. “Mami removed it…,” was the simple answer.

“Wha- Why would she do that?! You’re…!” Again Luz stopped her short.

“Thoughtless, reckless… jump into danger without a care in the nine realms because I never had to be, because it protected me from everything?” she offered with a small smile.

“But you were also mostly safe," Amity argued.

“I also couldn’t feel things.” The god reached up to take Amity’s hand from her face and lace her fingers through hers. “Now… Now I can feel the cold and the heat… feel so much better how you feel against me,” she mumbled, squeezing her hand for emphasis, “Yeah, maybe the pain is not much fun…” she grinned, tilting her head to the right, indicating her now missing eye. “And damn did this hurt,” she chuckled, laying her other hand over the black fur mantle on her chest, where the arrow had struck her. “But it’s so wonderful… to finally get to know all these things I’ve been missing… all the things I still get to learn!” She grinned.

Amity pursed her lips, but looking up at Luz's smiling face made her doubt evaporate like morning dew in the afternoon sun.

“I’m going to worry about you a lot,” she said matter of factly. 

“You were already always worried about me,” Luz smiled at her. Amity found it hard to argue with that. “I worry about you too, though. So I guess we’ll just get married and spend the rest of our days just worried about each other.” Luz smiled so fondly at her that it took her breath away. 

‘“I guess we will…” Amity smiled back at her

Her bright smile morphed into something more sly. “ You know, there are several things I can’t wait to find out feel like with you...” 

Amity’s cheeks flushed at the look on Luz’s face; one she was intimately acquainted with. Before she could turn any redder though the god leaned in closer.

“Do you know what the first one is?” she asked quietly, but before Amity could even think to form words, Luz’s mouth was slotted firmly against her for the first time in a year and it was all she could do not to melt into a puddle as the warm lips she’d missed so much slid across hers. 

Luz sucked away all her breath, but even as her lungs screamed for air, she wouldn't let go, not after everything that it had taken to get here, she only clung all the tighter, hand fisting into the hair at the back of Luz’s neck until it was the god that pulled away, gasping for breath. She didn't go far, pressing her forehead to Amity’s.

“I forget I actually have to breathe now…,” she huffed and Amity chuckled beneath her own panting as she rubbed her fingers over the back of Luz’s neck, holding her in place. She squeezed her eyes shut, feeling tears trying to slip out once more, and she let them. Let them drip from beneath her lashes to roll down her cheeks, any remaining dregs of her sorrow went with them

“What’s wrong?” Luz’s warm breath fanned out across her face with the gentle question. Amity just shook her head, careful not to pull her forehead from Luz’s, couldn't bear breaking off any point of contact they had at this moment. 

“Nothing,” it was a whisper under her breath as she opened her eyes. “Nothing at all.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's still one chapter to go, but we'd like to take this moment to extend our special and heartfelt thanks to our beta readers:   
> hyacinth (Lexa_Alycia)  
> Theatrical72  
> & I_Make_Arrows  
> Without whom these would be a much bigger mess.


	30. Chapter 30

Life in the village settled into one of postwar peace for the years that followed, relatively. There were always marauders and bandits to keep the village safe from, but nothing close to the year of the war along the coast and across the sea, for which Amity was eternally glad.

Life settled into a comfortable routine for the jarl and the god of light. Both were eager to have their marriage done after waiting so long, and after the first leaves began to turn with the onset of fall, with as much fanfare as Luz could fit into it, which was a lot, including the return of their new game tossing things and drunken guests into empty mead barrels. Boscha continued to reign supreme, using their eldest brother as her weapon of choice.

Settling into married life wasn't all that different for them than how it had been before the war had broken out.

Luz lived fully in the village and the novelty of her being the god of light quickly wore off for the people of Boneshaven. She was just another member of the village, though one the people adored in equal measure to Amity, and as if the village hadn't been the center of light worship before, it certainly was after the war.

Word spread of her and her siblings' constant sightings in the village, and travelers and warriors came from miles around to pray directly to the shepherd of the Summer sun and the god of storms, who was nearly always in attendance as well, though far less amenable to all those who came seeking her out then Luz was.

The ever increasing flow of travelers coming to the village increased the trade and population as people moved into the village to be closer to the gods, and it only grew as the years passed. Eventually, temple’s to each of the five divine siblings were built within its walls. Gus and King were especially pleased by that.

Luz still had her duties as the god of the summer sun and left a week after her return to do those duties. Letting her go was hard, but Amity did, because she knew with certainty that she would come back, and on the first day the leaves began to turn, she did.

Amity would never forget the first year after the war, the autumn of Luz's return just after their wedding especially. It was a learning curve for the god of light; learning to be vulnerable.

~

"Shit!"

Amity peeked an eye open from her place laying in bed to look over at Luz standing by the firepit, shaking out her hand as she hissed under her breath.

"You cut yourself again didn't you?" the jarl asked tiredly.

"No!…, I burned myself," Luz corrected with a grumble and stuck a couple of her fingers in her mouth as Amity chuckled.

"You have got to stop picking up hot metal." She shook her head as she swung her legs over the side of the bed to stand.

"I… "

"...Forgot, I know," she laughed as she walked over to pull the god's hand out of her mouth to look at the bright red skin on her hand. "It's not bad," she hummed, looking at the burn.

"I didn't realize how hard it would be to break thousands of years of habit…," she huffed.

"You need to try and remember, your going to get yourself killed doing something stupid…," she stopped, frowning the moment the words left her mouth and her grip on Luz's hand tightened.

The god immediately noticed the shift in Amity's mood and squeezed the hand back, making her lookup.

"I'm working on it, don't worry so much, my light." She leaned forward to place a kiss on the warrior's furrowed brow.

"You make it awfully hard not to worry about you…, especially when you keep doing things like this." She held up their intertwined hands.

"I know, but it's just a little burn. I may not be invulnerable anymore, but I am still a god. Look at Hooty!" she laughed.

Amity scoffed

"I love Hooty, but he's something else entirely." She dropped Luz's hand and walked away, she walked over and to her cloak hanging on the wall and pinned the bright, violet fabric across her shoulders, and slid her ax into her belt.

"Where are you going?" Luz followed her to the door like a puppy as Otabin stood from his bed to follow. Amity smirked, it had been like this ever since she got back. Luz was always reluctant to leave her side, and she would be lying if she said she didn't feel the same, after so long apart, she couldn't get enough, but they needed to be apart at some points regardless.

"I need to make my rounds through the village, and no, you can't come. I need to speak to some people, and you're still very distracting to some of them," she said as Luz slouched. "I'll be back soon," she promised, standing on her toes to press a kiss to the god's lips.

Luz hummed as she watched her and Otabin retreat through the door.

Once they'd gone she decided it would be a perfect day to bother her sister if she was home.

She quickly made her way out of the house and down the hill toward the edge of the village where the herbalist and storm gods home stood.

As she approached, she could hear more than the two familiar voices she expected and she grinned when she rounded the corner to see Gus standing there with Boscha and Willow.

"Gus!" she called, making them all turn to look at her. The god of mischief smiled brightly as she ran up and wrapped him in a tight hug

"Hey, Luz." He grinned.

"What are you doing here?" She asked.

"Well, I…," he started.

"He's here to cause trouble like he always is," Boscha grunted, crossing her arms over her chest.

"They're just some harmless pranks." The god waved a hand dismissively.

"You released a pack of chickens you fed hensbane too into the village and they tore apart an entire barn!" Boscha scowled at him. Luz and Willow shared a look as the two began to argue.

“Pfft, it wasn't that bad…,” he started.

“They tried to eat the farmer, you insufferable little fool!” she shouted, leaning down over him and scowling. Gus scowled back.

“You just have no sense of humor, unlike the rest of the family you Thunderhead!” He shot back as lightning began to spark along the god of storm’s form.

“You’re adopted!” Boscha snapped.

“Well, at least I’m not always trying to zap people with lightning, Sparkles!” He shouted back.

Dead quiet followed this latest insult, Luz and Gus watched the god of thunder's face slowly turn redder and redder. The silence was only broken by Willow as she desperately tried to hold in a burst of laughter.

“Sparkles,” she snorted.

The lightning around Boscha intensified and Luz could easily see what was about to happen.

“Let’s relax…,” she started, stepping between the two on instinct just as the god of storm’s hand shot up, and lightning flashed through the air, striking the god of light squarely in the chest.

She jerked, muscles seizing before she dropped to the ground, smoking.

“LUZ!” Three voices shouted and rushed to kneel at her side.

“Are you okay!?” Willow slipped a hand beneath her head to lift it gently.

“Don’t be dead! Amity and mom will kill us all!” Gus slapped his hands to his cheeks.

“I'm sorry!” Boscha yelped.

“Ugh…,” Luz groaned as she regained control of her muscles again. “That…hurt,” she grumbled, blinking up at them.

“Are you alright, can you stand?” Willow asked her sister-in-law worriedly.

“Yeah… yeah, I’m okay… It was meant for Gus, it was just a little zap…,” she grumbled as they helped her to stand.

“Ugh, you can’t do stuff like that anymore, Luz!” Boscha scolded.

“You do it to Gus all the time…,” she argued weakly.

“I’m a frost giant, lightning is dulled against me, you’re an Aesir, and you might be powerful but that doesn't mean you should be jumping in front of lightning bolts!” he agreed with the redhead.

“It was instinct…,” she mumbled. “I’m so used to jumping into the middle of things…,” she began only for Boscha to cut her off

“Which is exactly one of the reason’s mother removed your invulnerability… though at the rate you’re going you might just end up dead without it,” the god of storms grumbled. Her wife elbowed her roughly.

“I know… I’m learning… you’ve all had your whole lives to just… instinctively know, it’s like I’m a child again.” She frowned.

“You’ll get there,” Willow assured her with a gentle squeeze on her arm. “You just need to be careful. Eventually, it will become second nature not to jump in front of everything.” The herbalist chuckled.

Luz nodded, scratching the back of her head.

“I think I’m gonna go lie down…,” she grumbled.

“I need to head out anyway,” Gus said, laying his staff across his shoulders as he turned to go. “See you guys later,” he called as he walked off before disappearing in a haze.

“I’ll see you later too,” Luz held up a hand in farewell and turned to head back up the hill toward home.

“I have some plants to dry, come on…, Sparkles,” Willow smirked up at the redhead before heading into the house. Boscha grumbled and followed.

Luz stood in front of the polished metal mirror and pulled off her tunic, looking at the lightning pattern of burns that now spiderwebbed across the center of her chest, next to the perfectly circular scar over her heart. She was getting a lot of those lately.

It definitely hurt, but she would be fine. Now, how was she going to hide it from Amity?

Just as those thoughts passed through her mind, the door opened and Amity walked in.

“I’m bac-” she stopped short as she saw Luz standing there and her eyes immediately zeroed in on the scar that had not been there last night.

“What happened?!” she rushed over and reached out gently to touch the scar, making the god flinch.

“Uhhh…” she hesitated until Amity was looking up at her and she sighed, explaining what had happened.

“Luz!” Amity turned and walked a few steps away from her and stopped, hands pressed over her face.

“I didn’t mean to! It was instinctual!” She quickly followed. The jarl didn’t say anything and Luz waited until she saw the slight tremble in her wife’s shoulders. A clear indication that she was crying and the light god rushed forward to wrap her arms around the warrior's waist. “I’m sorry…”

“What was everything for if you’re just going to get yourself killed!?” Amity choked, pulling her hands away from her face but still not turning to face her. Luz tugged her in tighter.

“I know. I’m sorry, I’m trying, Amity. It’s just hard…”

After a few moments, Amity turned in her grip to face her, looking up at her with tear-stained cheeks.

“I need you... I need you to try harder, Luz, please. I can’t do that again. I can’t lose you.” She buried her face in the god's neck and squeezed her tightly.

Luz laid her face against the auburn locks and closed her eyes.

“You won’t, I’m going to be more careful, I promise.”

It was always a task, and she was hardly perfect, but she never again threw herself between her siblings, at least not bodily. A flex of her own powers usually calmed most situations. Or a threat to tell their parents worked even quicker

~ ~ ~

It was at the start of Amity’s twenty-seventh autumn that they finally fulfilled another long-held dream.

She was sitting in the grass with Otabin’s head in her lap, running her fingers through his fur and enjoying the final warm rays of the fleeting summer.

Luz would be back soon, she could feel it and tell. Her brand burned with warmth all summer long, but there was a special intensity to it at the end of Summer when she knew Luz was on her way home.

So she sat around, waiting and watching the village children play at the bottom of the hill. It amazed her how large some of them were getting and every year a few more joined the group, even as others left it to work in the village as adults. The population had only been growing in the last few years as people settled in Boneshaven, the place where Summer always seemed to be strongest and always favored by the gods.

They were chasing each other with sticks and she knew soon the laughter would give way to tears, as it usually did anytime they played a game that involved smacking each other.

She cocked her head as the children all seemed to look toward the gate and took off toward it. She looked and grinned to herself at the small spot of white and violet that appeared through the gates, mobbed by the village children.

She sat and waited patiently, watching Luz interact with the group. She would come to her soon enough.

Eventually, she broke away and made her way up through the village.

Amity stood and brushed herself off as Luz topped the hill, her cloak hung down, blocking her arms from view.

“Miss me, my light?” the god called with a grin as she approached.

“Always." Amity smiled, throwing her arms around her, but a small squeak of protest made her jump back, blinking.

"What was that?" She asked and Luz only grinned, shrugging her cloak from her shoulders to reveal the small form sitting in the crook of her arm.

Amity blinked wide, gold eyes at the small child, probably no more than two, looking back at her shyly as he tried to hide himself in Luz's torso.

She looked back up at Luz questioningly.

"Okay… so I know we've been talking about it and hadn't really decided anything yet… but, while I was on my way home I passed by a destroyed cart on the road and it looked like some bandits had killed the two people that had been traveling with their stuff," she started as Amity looked back at the little boy. "I was just going to walk by but then I heard this little guy crying in an empty crate in the cart. Bandits took the supplies and left him… and I thought… well… he could use a home now, and we've been talking about it… I mean if you're not ready we could find him another home with some of the other villagers…" she rambled as Amity continued to stare at the child, surprised.

"You want to take this one in?" She finally asked, looking up at her.

"If... that's what you want, yeah." She nodded.

Amity hesitated a moment before holding up her hands to take the boy. He flinched back and she frowned.

"It's okay, this is who I've been telling you about," Luz whispered softly to him. He looked up at her with bright, green eyes, still hesitant, but he didn't flinch away when she took him from Luz.

He was small and had dark brown hair that reminded her of Luz's, but his eyes were bright like fresh summer grass as he looked up at her. He looked tired and dirty, as well as hungry.

"I think he'd been there a couple of days. He came to me pretty quickly when I gave him some dried meat I had," Luz said softly, watching Amity.

"Do you have a name, little one?" Amity mumbled to the boy, he didn't answer, only buried his face into her chest.

"He hasn't spoken since I found him two days ago." Luz reached out and ran her fingers through his hair.

Something pulled at Amity's heartstrings.

"Well keep him." She nodded. Luz looked up at her as a bright smile broke out on her face.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah.” She nodded, smiling back at her. “We have to call him something…”

"Oh, hmmm…I hadn't thought about it." Luz scratched her chin thoughtfully

"What about… Forseti?" She suggested.

"As good a name as any. What do you think?" She looked back down at the boy. "Do you mind if we call you Forseti?" She asked gently.

The boy just snuggled closer into Amity.

"I don't think he minds." Luz grinned.

The first few weeks were definitely a trial and error period as the two slowly became accustomed to the new life in their lives. Forseti remained quiet and withdrawn for the first week, but slowly began to open up to the two. He followed his parents around everywhere they went, even in the village, and Luz was happy to tote him around and introduce him to her siblings and the twins, all of which doted on the boy.

Camila and Hieronymus especially. The two appeared in the village much more frequently after the boy had arrived.

He still didn't talk much for a time, but loud calls of 'momma!' often rang through the longhouse on the hill.

The twins and Gus especially loved to come and see him.

The first time King appeared had been a shock to him, and he'd hidden behind Luz for some time, until the god of darkness had laid on his belly, trying to appear as non-threatening as possible, and eventually, his nephew grew brave and came out to pat his small hands on his head.

Ever after, the god of darkness could be spotted galloping through the village with the jarl's son top his back.

Boscha tried to remain aloof, but it was apparent to all who looked that the boy had the god of strength wrapped around his little fingers.

True to his fashion with the boy's mother, Hooty tried to carry him off with him to his next battle, which resulted in Amity climbing the god of war like a tree to retrieve her son from his shoulders. Luz just chuckled and shrugged at the look of disappointment on her eldest brother's face.

By the time the boy was about four, Luz had begun to add to their little collection, bringing home with her the occasional abandoned child she found. Some a little older and some barely weaned.

It was everything the warrior had ever wanted. A house full of light and laughter and happiness.

Though eventually, she had to put her foot down at seven. Especially after Gus had shown up one winter with a she-wolf and Otabin extended his family as well. The children each clung tightly to one of the eight pups, the last they gave to Viney and Emira.

The longhouse on the hill could not hold a single body more, and they had built onto it already.

She was sitting with Boscha and Willow when Luz returned from Asgard one spring day with two babies under her arms.

“Where do you get all these?” Boscha laughed as the god of light stood at the table side where the three had been sitting, drinking mead. Amity sighed, partially exasperated, mostly amused.

“No, Luz,” she said with finality, already knowing the question about to come from her lover’s mouth,

“But Amity…!” Luz pouted

“No, Luz. We have enough running around, we don't need more.” She left no room for argument. “We have seven children, and I know it's not your fault, but you're gone all summer long, and I have to do it almost by myself when you are. I couldn’t possibly care for two more, and this young, especially when you’re leaving soon,” she reminded and Luz frowned at that. She did hate that she had to leave Amity and their children for three months of every year. “Also, this is my thirty-fourth spring, I'm not immortal like you, I'm only getting older,” she reminded.

“What do we do, just dump them back in the woods?!” The god of light grunted with a frown.

“Yeah, put ‘em back where you got ‘em!” Boscha snorted on a laugh as her wife elbowed her.

“No, of course not, we’ll have to find someone else to take them…,” Amity said, taking one of the two twin boys from her wife. “We’ll find them a home," she promised her wife, leaning up to kiss her cheek as she sat beside her.

Willow looked over at the two for a long minute as they sat there playing with them before she spoke up.

“We’ll take them,” she said. Boscha choked, spewing mead across the table.

“We’ll what?” She turned to her wife, mead dripping down her chin as the two locked eyes.

The two seemed to have a long, silent conversation with each other before Boscha heaved a loud, tired sigh.

“Fine,” she grunted and Amity handed one of them over to Willow and Luz held the other out to Boscha, who hesitated a moment before taking him in her arms.

“What do you think you’ll call them?” Luz asked curiously.

Boscha and Willow shared another glance before the herbalist shrugged and Boacha looked at the small, blue-eyed boy in her arms.

“Magni and Modi,” she declared. Willow rolled her eyes but agreed.

As if life hadn’t been interesting already in the village of Boneshaven. It became more so as the god of storms children were added to the fray, growing along with their cousins and all nine of them learning to fight at Boscha’s insistence. They grew strong under her watchful eye and quick and clever under Darkness and Mischief.

Hooty made an excellent training dummy.

~ ~

Amity grunted as she sat on the log, watching Forseti take practice swings at the training dummies she’d set up for him. The twenty-year-old was going to be her successor and she needed to make sure he was ready before she stepped down. He was there physically, Boscha and Hooty had made sure of it, but there was always room for improvement and he idolized all the stories she told him of Azura.

Winter would soon be upon them, her forty-fifth, and she could feel it in the aches and pains of her joints. Winter always made her old injuries and deeper scars ache dully, deep in her bones. Yet, Winter was the older jarls favorite season, once upon a time it had been the warmth of Summer, but after meeting her wife, Summer had become her least favorite season. It always took away her love for long periods of time, but Winter? Winter meant Luz would be back soon. All hers for the duration of the cold months. Her warmth would dispel any of Amity's aches when she held her, and for that, she could not wait.

It seemed anytime she looked at her reflection in some metal or water she had a few more lines around her mouth or eyes and a few more gray hairs streaking her once-solid auburn locks.

Most of the time she didn’t notice, especially when she was with Luz, whose youth sprang eternal, and it made her feel just as young as she ever had. Sometimes though, she wondered how Luz could still be attracted to her.

She’d expressed her concerns once, and the god had only laughed and assured her with more than just words that she still very much loved everything about the warrior in every way.

Otabin laid at her side, head in her lap, soaking up the sun right along with her. He didn’t fight much anymore either. The wolf was older than her son, and he limped right along with her on occasion. He felt his twenty-four summers as much as she felt each of hers.

She scratched his ears slowly, his tail thumped across the ground happily. He, much like her, looked a little more haggard than he used to, his once pristine white fur had grayed some with age.

“Mom?”

Amity looked up at her son as he stood in front of her.

“I’m done with this, I'm going to go down to the village, yeah?”

She looked over at the dummies, all hacked to pieces, and nodded. He quickly took off down the hill with a goodbye over his shoulder and she shook her head, smiling to herself.

She was fairly sure that he was interested in the girl down in the village the way he always ran straight there at any given opportunity.

She sighed and leaned back, as she and her companion soaked up the sun for a few hours longer, till it began to set.

Her brand had started burning with that familiar intensity that told her Luz would be home any day now. She could use some of her love's presence. She missed her in the summer.

Eventually, the sun has begun to set casting long orange rays over the two.

"Alright, we better go in and get some food going before our pack returns, '' she laughed, sitting up, but the great white wolf did not move. "Come on, baby," she smiled, scratching his head. Still, he laid unmoving.

"Otabin?" she looked over to see if the wolf had fallen asleep while they were half dozing in the sun.

His eyes were closed and he looked content.

She gave him a gentle shake, but he did not move. He laid still, his back no longer rose and fell with quiet, even breaths.

"Oh…," she breathed, as it finally hit her. With a shaking hand, she ran her fingers through his soft fur as silent tears began to drip down her cheeks as sorrow welled up in her chest.

"Th-that's okay,… you deserve to rest…" Her lips trembled as she sat there, running her hands through his fur as the sun sank below the horizon.

Two days later, Luz finally strolled back into the village, beaming. She was always so glad when summer ended and she could go home to her family.

She didn't get very far before Forseti and two of her youngest daughters Aya and Loni spotted her and came dashing over.

"Mom!"

"Hey…!" Luz's happy greeting died in her throat at the looks on their faces. "What, what happened?!" she asked, suddenly very worried.

The three looked at each other before her oldest turned to her.

"It's mother…"

Paralyzing fear gripped Luz, especially as she spotted the newly built pyre in the village square.

"What, what about your mother, did something happen to her, is she okay?!" Luz looked between the three quickly.

"Nothing happened to her… but I wouldn't say she's okay…," her eldest mumbled before explaining.

Luz ran up to the longhouse on the hill and opened the door.

Amity was sitting on their bed, mending one of their children's tunics when she came in.

"Luz! You're home…" she stood and knew by the look on her wife's face Amity knew that she already heard.

The god of light quickly crossed the room to wrap Amity in her arms. Amity squeezed her back, burying her face in her neck. The warmth of her wife’s presence was a balm on her pain, even as it let her open wounds bleed once more.

"I'm so sorry, my light," Luz mumbled in her ear as Amity started to cry into her shoulder. Luz just rubbed her back comfortingly.

She pulled herself together after a few minutes but didn't pull out of the warm embrace.

"I miss him," she sniffled.

"I know," she murmured, running her hand up and down the jarls back.

"I knew you'd be home soon… so we waited for you," she mumbled and Luz nodded.

"Thank you." She pressed a kiss to her wife's hair. "Every brave warrior deserves a warriors' send-off," she agreed.

That night, the family, along with their siblings and their spouses as well as the rest of the village's warriors that had fought with Amity and her loyal companion during the war gathered around the crackling fire to send off one of their own.

Amity cried into Luz's shoulder the entire time.

~ ~

Luz stared off into space, bored.

This meeting with her father had been going on for an eternity it felt like, though it had probably only been half an hour at best. They always had these meetings with him to discuss how their duties were going in Midgard, though he also used them as an excuse to ask her about how her children, all at least in their mid-twenties, were doing. Forseti already had four children of his own.

Luz sighed to herself as he said something about the Summer solstice she was only barely listening to, nodding along with his words when she felt it.

A tug at the core of her being.

She frowned, sitting up and concentrated on the strange new feeling. Her father took notice and looked at her with curious, pale blue eyes.

“What’s wrong?” the King of the Aesir cocked a brow at her.

Luz reached up, laying a hand over her chest, over the tugging feeling that was only growing stronger, and then she realized what it was and her eyes widened.

She jumped up, knocking over her chair in her haste as she turned and ran from the room.

“Luz!”

“Sorry, I gotta go, it’s time!” the light god yelled as she dashed from the room leaving her father behind, shaking his head. It wasn’t like it wouldn't go just fine without Luz.

“That girl,” he sighed, shaking his head fondly.

Luz ran through the halls of Valhalla, weaving between other gods as she did, a sense of manic urgency fueling her mad dash through the golden halls.

“Sorry, excuse me, coming through!” she yelled, others were quick to move out of the speeding god of light’s way.

All four of her siblings and their mother were standing in the courtyard of the great hall, talking as she came barreling through as though she were being chased down by a frost giant.

“Where are you going in such a hurry?” Boscha asked as she ran past, never slowing. She turned to yell at them over her shoulder.

“It’s happening today, right now! I have to get there first, I want to be the one to do it!” she yelled, and shocked looks came over their faces, all but Hooty, who only grinned excitedly, but soon the others too were grinning.

“Well, you better hurry before my friends get there!” Boscha yelled at her sister’s back, grinning widely.

“Run fast, Luz!” Gus called encouragingly.

“Don’t make her wait!” King barked gruffly, but he too was grinning a sharp-toothed grin, tail swishing behind him.

“I’m so excited, Ha Ha!” Hooty bounced eagerly from foot to foot.

Camila just shook her head, smiling fondly at her youngest's back as she dashed down the great corridors.

“I’m going!” the god of light yelled as she hit the Bifrost. Hemdall nodded as she passed and then she was gone in a flash of bright light.

Luz appeared again outside the large gates of the town of Boneshaven.

It had grown a lot over the years, expanding far beyond its original walls. The setting sun glowed over it.

She dashed inside, running past the people, many of whom called out to her or waved, running past a few of her grown children as well, she did at least return their calls, but then they seemed to realize what was happening and they smiled even as their faces grew solemn.

She ran up the hill, panting when she finally slid to a stop outside the house just as a great winged horse touched down in the yard.

"How many times are we going to do this, Luz?" Skara asked her, sounding annoyed but she was grinning.

"Last time, I promise," The god of light said and Skara laughed, nodding.

"It better be," she teased, wagging a finger at the god before yanking back on the reins and taking off again.

Luz watched her fly off for a moment before entering the house, it was quiet and dark.

She moved quietly to the bed. The figure in it laid still, unmoving in death.

She reached down and gently moved a few strands of long white hair from the departed warrior's face, set in peaceful slumber.

Her body was not yet even cold. Luz had rushed as fast as her power allowed. She knew she might not make it even so. It had taken her longer than she thought it would to decipher the tugging at her soul.

"I'm sorry I'm late," she said aloud.

"You lied,"

Luz chuckled and turned to face the spectral looking form leaning against the wall.

A much younger warrior stood there, form transparent and glowing softly.

"What did I lie about?" She tilted her head, amused. Amity huffed, walking over to join her at the bedside, looking down at her still body. Her mortal form that had given her everything it could for sixty-eight long Summers.

"You said I was still beautiful… I looked ancient," she grumbled as Luz laughed and wrapped her arms around the disembodied soul.

"I have never lied to you… since I promised I wouldn't!" she quickly tacked on as golden eyes cut to her. "You were, and always will be beautiful to me, Amity." she hummed, nuzzling her face against hers. Finally, the warrior smiled, reaching up to take hold of the hands wrapped around her.

"You're also late," she teased.

"I'm sorry, my light. You know how long my father can go on," she chuckled.

Amity hummed.

"Are you ready?" she asked quietly in her ear. Amity sighed.

"Yes."

Luz pulled back and held out her hand. Amity didn't hesitate to slip her own into it.

"I'll come back tomorrow morning and help everyone," she said and Amity nodded.

"You'll give them my goodbyes?" She asked and Luz nodded.

"Willow, Ed, and Em will understand and be okay, and I'll help the children," she promised. Amity nodded and then in a flash of light, the house stood empty, quiet, and dark.

The next time Amity opened her eyes they were standing at the edge of the Bifrost, its bright, luminescent colors shined in the darkness. Transparent hues all the colors of the rainbow and some she had never seen before.

Amity looked at her wife questioningly. She only smiled and the old jarl took a step and found the light to be solid underfoot.

"I also have a surprise for you," she sang knowingly.

"Oh?" She cocked a brow as they walked across and Luz grinned. "What?"

"All brave warriors go to Asgard, my light," Luz said cryptically, making her frown.

"What does that…?" Before she could finish the thought a loud bark made her turn to look at the end of the Bifrost where the gates to Asgard sat open.

What caught her attention though, was the figure standing next to Hemdall.

The figure of a great, white wolf.

Amity's non-existent breath hitched.

"He's been waiting here all this time," she heard Luz say to her. She looked up at her and Luz jerked her head toward the gates with a grin.

Then the jarl was running the rest of the way, not even stepping foot off the great bridge as the beast pounced on her.

"Otabin!" She cried, wrapping her arms around his neck and burying her face in his fur. "I missed you," she mumbled.

Luz just grinned as she walked over. Letting the two have their moment before Amity finally stood and beamed at her.

"You knew all this time that he was here."

"Of course I did, but talking about him only made you upset, so I figured it would be better to wait till you could see him for yourself." Luz shrugged.

Amity squeezed her tightly.

"I love you," she hummed and Luz grinned, squeezing her back.

"I love you too. Now come on, everyone else is waiting too!" She took her by the hand and led her inside.

It was just as the other gods had always described. Similar to Midgard, but everything had an almost pristine beauty to it.

"Where are we going?" Amity asked as Luz led her along. Otabin, trotting along happily at their side.

"Valhalla," was the simple answer.

The great golden Hall was even more magnificent than Amity could have ever imagined. It was giant and gleaming gold under the light of the sun, It’s towering pillars shined and sparkled under the light.

As they entered the courtyard, she spotted a familiar group.

"Champion, Ha Ha!" Hooty shouted, arms raised overhead.

"Amity!" Gus grinned ear to ear as they approached. Even King's tail wagged behind him.

Boscha just grinned at her, arms crossed over her chest.

The god of war and mischief wrapped her up in a tight hug making her laugh as she patted their backs.

"Hey," she smiled as the two pulled back, only for Camila to take their place.

"She's been antsy about this day for months," her mother-in-law whispered in her ear; Amity chuckled at that.

"We should go have a drink to celebrate," Boscha suggested and Gus snorted.

"What don't you want an excuse to drink for?" he asked as they started to head into the great hall.

Luz wrapped an arm around her shoulder and squeezed.

"Welcome home, my light," she said, pressing a kiss to Amity's temple.

Two years later, Boscha would make the same mad dash through the halls and Amity and Luz were there waiting to greet Willow when she arrived.

"I missed you," the herbalist mumbled into the warrior's shoulder as they embraced.

~ ~

The old great ax bearing the sigil of light gleamed from inside its glass case under the hot spotlights.

"And that's the story of the Norse god, Baldur," the museum curator said proudly to the young man looking at the weapon.

He blinked and frowned at her.

"That sounds like a load of bullshit," he said, making her frown.

"I assure you it is not. You wanted to hear the tale of this ax and the god of light, I obliged." She folded her hands behind her back.

"I wanted to hear the story about the guy that died and started Ragnarok and all that, not some weird, made-up love story!" The tourist threw up a hand and the woman sighed heavily.

"I told you that the story of the God of light was one of love and faith..."

"And blood, don't forget the blood!" the other woman at her side piped up.

"Yes… and blood," she conceded.

The man sighed.

"Yea… thanks," sarcasm dripped from his words as he turned and walked away just as an announcement that the museum was closing in five minutes came over the loudspeaker.

"Ungrateful whelp," Lilith grumbled, crossing her arms.

"Ah, some people just don't appreciate history," Eda chuckled.

"This only happens because of all the blatantly false tales you told centuries ago!" She turned an accusing finger toward her sister.

Eda shrugged.

"Well, it helped them walk around unseen among mortals, didn't it?" She grinned.

"Let's just close," Lilith sighed.

Her sister followed, cackling.

It was already dark as they stepped out of the building, locking the door behind them.

Bitter, winter wind whipped at their hair and coats.

"Damn it's cold!" Eda shivered, holding a small box under her arm.

"Which reminds me…," Lilith hummed, pulling out her phone. "Weren't you supposed to meet…," before she could finish that thought, a figure in jeans and a deep purple hoodie walked down the sidewalk toward them, making both smile.

"Your timing is impeccable," Lilith smiled as Luz approached with a beaming grin.

"I figured I'd wait till you closed."

"Hey, Kid. How's dear old, Nanna?" She asked with a wicked grin that made the god of light roll her eyes.

"Fine, but you know she hates that name... I don't know how mortals come up with these names," she grumbled.

"Yes, wherever do they come up with these things…," Lilith drawled, eyeing her sister out of the corner of her eye.

"Well, I can't stay long, do you have what I asked for?" Luz turned back to Eda, who held out the small box.

"Right here, I also wrote some simple instructions for it in case you didn't understand anything," she said as she handed it to Luz.

"Great, thanks. I'll come back to visit with you guys later," she promised as she turned and trotted down the street, waving over her shoulder as she turned into an alley and in a flash of light, vanished.

Luz reappeared on the Bifrost and quickly trotted back inside the gates of Asgard.

As she passed on her way to the great hall, she spotted Viney and the twins and waved as she passed. They waved back and called out greetings.

She grinned to herself as she hurried down the halls of Valhalla to her mother's rooms.

She knocked and was called to enter.

"Oh, Luz, your back." Amity smiled at her from her place sitting across from her mother.

"Yup, I got the thing too!" She held the box up triumphantly.

"And still wearing those ridiculous clothes I see." Her mother cocked a brow.

"This is the latest mortal fashion, I would draw way more attention to myself wearing my usual clothes," she defended.

"Yes, well, hurry and go change." She stood and took the box from Luz. "I'll go get your father." Her mother walked out and Luz stuck her tongue out at her back as Amity chuckled, walking over.

"How are Eda and Lilith?" She asked after leaning up to kiss her wife on the cheek.

"They're fine… I mean, as fine as they ever seem to be." She grinned and shrugged.

"You better hurry and change, I'll go find the others," she said and walked out.

When Luz had finished changing into her usual garb she trotted back out to the gates where her family was waiting in front of the Bifrost.

"Took you long enough," Boscha grumbled from her place leaned over Willow.

"Let's just get this done," King grumbled.

"Just all stand together," Camila sighed as she opened the box and pulled out the camera, and handed it to her husband, who looked at it curiously while she read the instructions.

Gus hopped atop the god of darkness’ back, who grunted but didn’t object as Hooty stood beside the god of storms and her wife, arms crossed.

“Why are we doing this?” Boscha grumbled and her mother shot her a look.

“Because hardly all of you are ever here at the same time, and this way we have something to look at when you’re away, now just do it.” She leveled a hard look on her oldest daughter who grumbled under her breath until Willow reached up and grabbed her hand, making her smile down at her.

“Alright, I… think it’s ready,” her father hummed and Camila nodded.

“Squeeze in close,” she commanded and the children did as they were told.

Luz wrapped her arm around Amity and smiled as the warrior leaned her head on her shoulder and squeezed her back, Otabin at their feet.

“Smile!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Thank you for reading this story! I never expected this idea to grow to such an adventure. I originally thought I would draw like 1 picture or 2, but look at we have now ahah Hope you enjoyed this story as much as us - time for me to switch mythology" ~ Tripower
> 
> It has been our sincerest pleasure to bring this story to you all and we hope that you enjoyed it as much as we have. Parting is bitter-sweet but all good things must end and you can be sure that there are more projects coming from both myself and Tri. ~ Rohad
> 
> Thank You

**Author's Note:**

> A collaborative effort Writing project by Tripower & Rohad  
> Chapter Illustrations by Tripower


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